The Brock men's basketball team was forced to wonder what could have been after a heartbreaking 69-63 loss to the Ryerson Rams in the OUA semifinal.

A win would have earned the Badgers a trip to the OUA final against Carleton and an automatic berth into the Nationals in Halifax March 8-11. Instead, Brock will host a bronze-medal game Saturday at 7 p.m. while hoping a win there will be enough to earn them a wild-card entry to Halifax.

"It's extremely frustrating. It was a game we knew we could win," said senior Dani Elgadi, who led the Badgers with 20 points and eight rebounds in the loss. "The crowd got us a little hyped and we were edgy in the first quarter. It just took us a while to settle in."

Brock trailed Ryerson early in the game, but came back to tie it at 16-16 and led 21-20 after the first quarter. From there, a combination of foul trouble and a frustrating lack of shots dropping allowed the Rams to take a 34-23 lead by the six–minute mark of the second and a 39-35 lead at the half.

An even third quarter didn't change the margin, and then more shooting struggles — both from the floor and at the foul line — continued to hurt the Badgers in the final quarter. A three-pointer at the buzzer from Ibrahim Ngom helped close the gap slightly, but it would have to have been a nine-pointer for it to have made a difference.

As Ryerson players and coaches poured onto the court, the Badgers gathered at centre court before being consoled by fans and family.

Behind Elgadi, Tyler Brown had nine points and Johneil Simpson had eight. For Ryerson, Ammanuel Diressa led his team with 19.

After the game, Brock head coach Charles Kissi acknowledged the team's shooting percentage (28.1 per cent for field goals, 22.2 for three pointers and 69.7 for free throws) simply wasn't good enough.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well today," he said. "We don't have any excuse for missing open shots. At this level, if you want to win a national title, you have to hit those."

Kissi said the team will do its best to forget about Wednesday's loss and refocus on playing Windsor in the OUA bronze-medal game Saturday at Bob Davis Gymnasium.

"The good news is we've given ourselves another chance to get there," he said. "We're going to have to be really good on Saturday."

Elgadi said getting excited and mentally prepared for the bronze game won't be a problem.

"We're not done yet," he said. "We have a mission. We've always wanted to go to Nationals. So if we get that opportunity with the wild card, we'll take advantage of it."

Note: During the basketball game, three of Brock's championship-winning varsity teams were recognized. The Badgers men's and women's wrestling teams both won USPORTS national championships recently while the Badgers men's curling team won an OUA provincial title and will compete in the nationals March 24 to 28 in Alberta.