Gee-Gees no match for Badgers

The Brock Badgers men's basketball team opened their 2009-2010 campaign on the right foot by defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 72-70.
In the game's first quarter, sophomore guard Joel Whitty collected seven of his 13 points en route to an early 19-16 Badger advantage. The typical nervousness that accompanies a first regular season game was evident in the opening quarter as both teams failed to make easy shots in the paint and were called on numerous travelling violations.
Ken Murray, who is entering his 19th year as head coach of the Badgers, expected the beginning of the contest to be rocky.
"We started three second-year players and two first-years - it's going to happen. Everything is now on the line because it's no longer pre-season," said Murray. "Both teams were really uptight and tense, and respected each other [.] With conference games like this you're not going to see a picture of beauty by any stretch. It's a lot about what team outworks the other."
By the middle of the second quarter Brock had settled the game down by gathering up every defensive rebound they could. This enabled them to dictate the play and put the pressure on Ottawa.
It also helped that freshman Clinton Springer-Williams, the Badgers leading scorer in pre-season play, found his shooting groove as he netted 10 of his 12 first half points in the second.
The London, Ontario native finished with a final stat line of 22 points, five rebounds and two steals. Springer-Williams and teammate Whitty combined for seven three-pointers on 11 tries in the win.
"I just go out there and play. I know what the team expects of me, what the coaches expect from me, so I'm just trying to live up to my expectations and I really want to succeed here," said Springer-Williams. "I just don't want to let anyone down."
Going into halftime the Badgers had a small five-point cushion as the scoreboard in the Bob Davis Gymnasium read 35-30.
The trend of miniature leads continued throughout the second half of the contest.
Each time Brock pressed to extend their lead, Ottawa would find a way to claw back to within five points.
A three-pointer to tie it at 45 looked to be Ottawa's big break, but a jumper from Springer-Williams just seconds later put Brock back on top and, more importantly, stole Ottawa's increasing momentum.
Murray is not surprised by Brock's newly established go-to guy.
"Clinton is all we thought he would be," said the coach.
In the concluding frame, it was Springer-Williams and second-year teammates Didi Mukendi and Mark Gibson who carried the squad to victory. Their clutch play was displayed through timely steals, accurate free throws and smart shooting decisions.
The final minutes of the game consisted of the Badgers attempting to catch up to the Gee-Gees who had grabbed the lead on a downtown shot with just over five minutes remaining.
It was Mukendi who nailed the game-winning shot along the baseline with 12.5 seconds left.
The game's concluding possession was one that Ottawa's point guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe hopes to soon forget, as he air-balled the potential game-winner.
Brock shot a respectable 47.4 per cent from the field, even though they struggled to find their stroke in the early going. Their ability to keep Ottawa to a dismal 34.4 per cent gave them the extra push needed to come out with the victory.
When asked about how his team could improve in their match the following day against Carleton, Springer-Williams felt that the amount of turnovers had to be significantly reduced.
"We had 25 turnovers," he said. "Against a team like Carleton we can't do that."
The Badgers did indeed improve on their turnover situation the following night versus the Carleton Ravens, but not by a significant amount. Their improvement was slight as they still turned the ball over 19 times to Carleton's 15, a ratio that the No. 1- ranked Ravens will exploit every time.
The final score of the Nov. 7 contest was 80-63 for the visiting squad.
Springer-Williams led all scorers for the second night in a row by collecting 22 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds to earn a double-double in the loss. Gibson and Mukendi were next up in point production for the Badgers with 15 and 11 points respectively.
The story of the match was the Ravens' knack to go on scoring runs at key parts of the game. A 10-2 run following half time put the top rated team in an imposing position with a 45-33 lead. From then on, they never looked back.
Nevertheless, a split to begin the season is something the Badgers are not hanging their heads about.
Next up for the 1-1 Badgers are two away contests against Laurentian and York Nov. 13 and 14.