On November 16, the UTM’s Div. 1 basketball team, Eagles White, took on University College at 8 p.m. in the RAWC. The Eagles came into the game following a 79–58 victory over UTSC the week prior.
Zak Khan started off the scoring for the Eagles with a 4–0 lead early in the game. Haris Nuranovic was fouled on his way to the net and scored one of his two free throws. UC’s Dario Khosousi threw a three-pointer five minutes into the game to give UC their first points and made the game 5–3.
Zak Khan and Josh Sumi traded baskets after that, making it 16–5 for the Eagles by the first timeout and the team didn’t let go of their lead for the rest of the game.
Despite Manuala’s and Khosousi’s efforts on the court, they were only able to bring UC to within seven points before the Eagles broke loose. UTM’s Khan snagged four points. Daniel Pinnock saved the ball from going out of bounds and made a beautiful pass to Somi, who scored two points. Pinnock then got two of his own. Khan grabbed another four points, along with Jordan Lisacek, who got four more.
When the halftime buzzer sounded, the score was 43–22 in favour of the Eagles.
During halftime, UTM Athletics hosted a contest where the first five people who followed @UTM_Athletics on Twitter and tweeted a twitpic of the giant shark balloon floating around the gym would win a prize pack. The packs contained hats, scarves, long sleeved t-shirts, and mini basketballs.
After the winners examined their prizes, everyone focussed their attention back on the basketball game.
Ferdinand Peng played hard in the second half. He injured himself early on after a hard hit and had to leave the court. Just minutes after his fall, he returned and scored 11 points, including two three-pointers.
On the other side, Kaleb Sany drew three fouls for UC and snagged four points.
UTM White ended up beating University College by a score of 86–41.
“Ferdinand, Omar, Josh, and Jordan are all starting to step it up lately. They’re new to our team this year and they’ve been playing well,” said UTM coach Jeremy Wong.
Omar Jallow was a strong presence on the team. His height and powerful jump helped him throughout the game as he continuously blocked shots from UC’s Manuala and Khosousi.
“We played hard,” said rookie Ferdinand Peng. “Our mental focus was a hundred percent throughout the game. We ran into some foul troubles, but other than that we performed well.”
Peng finished third overall in points with 11. Josh Somi scored 13 points and Zak Khan finished first with 18 points.
Despite their strong performance in Wednesday’s game, Wong feels his team has room to improve.
“We still have some holes to cover,” said Wong. “We’re slowly getting there.”
“Everyone is talented,” added Peng. “But we all have the skills to do better.”
UTM White is ranked third in Division 1. With this win they improved their record to 4–1–0. The team’s next intramural game is on Wednesday, November 23 at 8 p.m. in the RAWC against Woodsworth College.
“To be quite honest, this was practice for us,” confessed Wong. “I don’t want to discredit the other team, but this was practice for Friday.”
UTM hosts basketball tournament
On Friday, November 18, UTM hosted a basketball tournament that included teams UTM Blue, UTM White, Seneca, Sheridan, Humber North, Humber Lakeshore, and UTSC.
In their first game, UTM White defeated Humber Lakeshore 38–29. UTM Blue lost their first game to Centennial 45–41. Then, UTM White continued their winning streak with a win over Humber North 48–27, while UTM Blue redeemed themselves by defeating Seneca 51–29.
UTM White pushed their streak to three wins after beating UTSC 71–59. UTM Blue lost to Sheridan 42–37 and was knocked out of the tournament. UTM White advanced to the semifinals.
Centennial knocked UTM White out of the tournament with a 53–38 victory. Centennial went on to play Sheridan in the finals after Sheridan won their semi against Humber North 56–53 in OT. Sheridan beat Centennial in the final by a score of 41–37, winning the tournament.
