After a hard-fought and back-and-forth battle, the Brock Badgers men's basketball team has advanced to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semifinals in its quest for the Wilson Cup.
An electric atmosphere at Bob Davis Gymnasium helped propel the Badgers, the No. 4 seed in the OUA, over the No. 8 seed Ottawa Gee-Gees 69-68 on Saturday, Feb. 21.
"That's postseason basketball. It was a one-point game with two teams fighting for their playoff lives," said head coach Willy Manigat. "I think our guys competed and stuck to the plan for 40 minutes. When you do that, you give yourself a chance to win."
Birch Pockar continued his impressive first year, scoring a team-high 21 points and six rebounds, while Isaiah Bujdoso and Michael Matas each contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
"Birch was one of our most important recruits due to his energy and toughness, along with him wanting the moment," Manigat said. "He's going to move on to the next game and be focusing on how we can get the next win; that's the type of player we want to have."
After the Badgers broke out to a slim 7-6 lead to start the first, the Gee-Gees went on an 11-5 run after the hosts got into foul trouble.
Despite outperforming their opponents in field goal percentage 42.9 to 30.8, the Badgers trailed 17-14 as the Gee-Gees made nine free throws in the first frame.
Brock cleaned up their foul issues in the second quarter and outscored the Gee-Gees 21-13.
Pockar registered 10 of the Badgers' last 15 points in the frame, giving them a 35-30 lead to conclude the first half.
A string of scores from Pockar, Bujdoso and Nemanja Sarkanovic gave the Badgers a 51-44 advantage, but a 4-0 run from the Gee-Gees cut the lead to 51-48 heading into the fourth.
"We focus on the whole season, playing as many guys as we can for these moments," Manigat said. "Having a program where you can call someone's number and trust that they're going to be able to do their job puts you in a position to win these close games."
Matas started the fourth quarter by going on a 6-0 run by himself, which was followed by Pockar three-pointer to give Brock a 60-51 lead.
The game then flipped as Ottawa went on a 12-0 run to take a 63-60 advantage with five minutes remaining.
Clawing back to tie the game at 65-65, a free throw from Pockar and a layup from Matas gave the Badgers a three-point lead before Xavier Fearon hit the game-sealing free throw.
The Badgers made their mark on the glass, collecting 13 offensive rebounds to seven from the Gee-Gees, while also winning the second-chance points battle 7-4.
The win marked a major turnaround for the Badgers after the Gee-Gees earned a 90-62 victory over the Badgers just two weeks earlier.
Brock now advances to the semifinals, where they will take on the No. 2 seed TMU Bold on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, with the game scheduled for 8 p.m.
"It's a divisional rival. We'll prepare, put together a game plan and watch the film," Manigat said. "We have to put our best foot forward and figure out what advantages and disadvantages we have to put ourselves in a position to win."
The Badgers went 2-0 against the Bold in the regular season and will look to make it three straight as they aim to book their ticket to the Wilson Cup and the U SPORTS Men's Final 8.
