The Gaels traveled to the nation’s capital on March 8, where they fell just short of becoming back-to-back OUA Champions, losing 87-95 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees 87-95 in a hard-fought battle.
Going into their championship matchup, the Gaels had lost both regular season contests against the Gee-Gees, 82-95 on Jan. 31 and 84-89 on Feb. 15.
The two regular season losses seemed to fuel the Gaels, as they stormed out the gates with a dominant first quarter, outscoring the top-ranked team 28-15.
The Gaels were lights-out in the opening frame, shooting 57 per cent from the three-point line and 63 per cent from the field. U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, Ollie Engen, Kin ’28, Jalen Sikkema, ArtSci ’28, and Lucas Ponting, Comm ’27, combined for 16 points, setting the tone early.
Ottawa, however, found its rhythm in the second quarter, tightening up defensively and cutting down on turnovers.
The Gaels’ red-hot shooting cooled, and the Gee-Gees capitalized, outscoring Queen’s 25-19. Still, the Gaels entered halftime up 47-40.
Led by Luka Syllas, ConEd ’25, the Gaels went into halftime looking focused, seemingly ready to put it all on the line to fend off the comeback the Gee-Gees would need to get back into the game.
Unfortunately for the Gaels, the third quarter was by far their worst of the game—shooting less than 30 per cent from the field and sinking only half of their free throws.
To make matters worse, the Gee-Gees shot 42 per cent from beyond the arc, outscoring the Gaels 17-24 to tie the game going into the final frame.
Syllas and Engen did all they could to keep the Gaels’ hopes of an OUA Championship alive, dropping nine points each in the fourth. But Ottawa proved to be too much for the Gaels, dropping 31 points in the final quarter and continuing to reign down from the three-point line, sinking 60 per cent of their shots from beyond the arc.
Engen finished with a team-high 28 points, and Syllas notched a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gaels’ season isn’t yet over. They’ll play the Calgary Dinos on March 13 in Vancouver, BC., in the U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Championships.
Calgary, led by U SPORTS Player of the Year Nate Petrone, will be a tough opponent. Petrone, who guided the Dinos to a Canada West Championship earlier this year, was second in the nation for both points per game and field goal percentage, dropping an average of 24.2 points per game on 63 per cent shooting.
The Dinos finished the regular season with a 16-4 record, meaning the Gaels have their work cut out for them if they hope to make a return trip to the U SPORTS Championship game.
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