The Redeemer Royals Men's Basketball team won a very tight playoff crossover match on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa to secure their first OCAA Provincial Championship berth in team history. The Royals defeated the Algonquin Thunder 87-75 to secure the historic win.
The Royals started strong out of the gate, building up a 6-point lead after the first quarter and leading by 10 points with under 2 minutes to play in the first half. However, the Thunder went on a strong run in the final minutes of the 2nd quarter to pull themselves to within 1 point. Redeemer's
Anthony Terry hit a buzzer beater 3-pointer as the Royals entered halftime with a 4 point lead.
In the 3rd quarter, both teams exchanged points back and forth as neither team was able to grab the momentum and go on a run. With under 3 minutes to play, the Thunder took the lead 53-51, their first since early in the 2nd. Algonquin finished the quarter on a 10-4 run giving them a 4-point advantage going into the final quarter, 61-57. Redeemer was outscored 20-12 in the period. The Thunder relied heavily on their bench to keep the match close, tallying 33 points to Redeemer's 4.
The 4th quarter saw the visitors take control of the game. A 7-0 run to start, had the Royals up by 3-points just 3 minutes into the final frame. Redeemer never trailed again. The Royals outscored the Thunder 30-14 in the quarter, securing their first playoff win in school history.
4 players were in double-figures for the Royals.
Rayvon Higdon and
Nicholas Green led the way with 24 and 22 points respectively, while
Spencer Kerssies had 15 and
Foster Brown added 13.
Ameer El-Badry had a team-high 16 points for Algonquin.
With the win, the Royals now advance to the OCAA Men's Basketball Championship being hosted by Centennial College on March 1-4. Redeemer will open up the tournament on Thursday at 1:00pm in the quarterfinals against the #1 CCAA ranked Sheridan Bruins.
