Tyler Brown netted 21 points as the Brock Badgers opened the 2019-20 season with a 65-62 win over the Ryerson Rams Saturday night at Bob Davis Gymnasium.
 
The fifth-year guard secured the win by nailing a three-pointer with two seconds left on the shot clock and just over 32 left on the game clock, putting a big smile on the face of the Hamilton native who wants to keep things light in his final year.
 
"It was a great feeling," he said. "It got a little close, but I was having a lot of fun and the team was having a lot of fun. We're just happy to get this win."
 
The Badgers looked good in their regular-season debut under new coach Willy Manigat, who Brown said is pushing the team to work hard, but keep things light.
 
"Our coach tells us it's hard to have success if you're not enjoying it, so that's something we're trying to do," he said. "We have an idea of what we want our team identity to be and within that, we want to be able to have fun and enjoy the game."
 
While it marked Manigat's first official win outside of exhibition play, the coach said the victory was a reflection of how hard the team has been working.
 
"I'm happy for the guys because of how hard I've been pushing them at practice," he said. "This is the type of thing you're going to see every game. We're going to have to fight and claw our way because it's not going to be easy for us."
 
The Badgers led 24-16 after the first quarter and 39-29 at the break. The Rams came back to tie it at 53-53 by the end of the third quarter, and then a low-scoring fourth saw the two teams combine for just eight points in the first eight minutes to leave it tied at 57-57 with two minutes to play.
 
A jumper and the aforementioned three by Brown, along with key foul shots by Daniel Caldwell and Kascius Small-Martin lifted Brock to the win as Ryerson hit a two and a three in the final 24 seconds to make it interesting.
Small-Martin finished the night second in Brock scoring behind Brown with 16 points. Godsman Kwakwak had nine and Daniel Cayer eight. Jayden Frederick led Ryerson with 25 points.
 
The Brock Badgers are back on their home court Wednesday, Oct. 30 when they host the McMaster Marauders at 8 p.m. They head to Toronto on Friday, Nov. 2 and then come back to Bob Davis to host Guelph on Nov. 8 and Algoma on Nov. 9.