On Tuesday night, UTM Blue travelled to St. George for their semifinal game against PHE. Earlier in the regular season, UTM Blue came up short against PHE with an 80–71 loss. Ranked first, PHE looked to repeat another win over UTM, who were ranked fourth.
The team was full of energy and enthusiasm and were determined to stay in the running for Div 1 champions, and this translated into their game. The Eagles took a 30–23 lead in the first half and cruised through the remaining two quarters.
On the defensive side, one of the keys was to shut down PHE’s leading scorer, Anthony DiGiorgio. UTM managed to hold him down to a mere three points, all of which were scored from the free throw line. On the offence, UTM’s secret (or perhaps not so secret) weapon was Fedja Kuljanin, who dominated the low-post game with 30 points.
Next Wednesday (March 14), UTM will face Woodsworth for its first Div 1 championship match since the 2008/09 season.
For those interested in attending, students will be allowed to join the team on the bus, which will depart from the RAWC at 7:30 p.m.