Men’s Div 1 Basketball (UTM White) played their first game of the semester last Wednesday against the UTSC Maroons. Despite having a smaller roster than usual, the teams were pretty evenly matched and the Eagles knew it would be difficult to pull out on top.
The score went back and forth throughout the game, and the Eagles struggled to keep up with the Maroons’ 3-point force, Ravi Pren, who scored 15 of his 17 points from behind the arc. Both teams struggled with fouls, each losing two players to foul trouble. UTM maximized on UTSC’s fouls, grabbing 19 points from free throws. The Maroons may have had some good shooters, but the Eagles have some agile players who made sharp passes between defenders to get to the hoop. Manpreet Gill and Zak Khan were forces to be reckoned with, weaving through defenders and netting easy layups.
On the defensive side, the Eagles had trouble stopping the 3-point shots, but were able to force turnovers and make quite a few steals. Daniel Pinnock made swift moves with the ball and was a key player for the Eagles when it came to steals, making the opposing team look like they couldn’t handle the pressure.
When the buzzer went off at the end of the 40-minute regulation time, the score was 72–68 in favour of UTM.
After the game, coach Jeremy Wong commented on their first win. “The men’s team returned a little bit short handed for their first game. We felt like we controlled the tempo and pace of the game quite nicely. This was our fourth matchup against this team, so we knew how they were going to attack us. Our players really stepped it up,” he said. “Chris Thompson and Ferdi Peng controlled the point guard position well, and Tyrone Campbell had a block party at the end of the game. It was nice to get a win for our home fans, and it was good to see all of them come out and cheer with us.”
Both UTM teams will play again on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the St. George campus.
