BARRIE, Ont. - The Sheridan Bruins men's rugby team (5-1 OCAA) put forth a quality effort in their season finale against Georgian, but came home without the brown bear trophy after falling 29-17 in the Battle of the Bears.

Georgian found the scoreboard first, scoring a try in the sixth minute, but the Bruins had a reply in the form of a Jad Hamade try and conversion, giving Sheridan a 7-5 edge.

The back-and-forth continued when the homeside scored a second try, only to see Hamade force a turnover and score his second try of the day. His successful conversion restored the Bruin lead, this time 14-10.

It would be the Double-Blue's last lead of the day though, after two more tries and a Hamade penalty kick rounded out the first half scoring, with the Grizzlies leading 24-17.

For as much scoring as there was in the first half, there was considerably less over the game's final 40 minutes.

Georgian missed a penalty kick, but scored a late second half try that cemented the victory.

It gave the reigning OCAA champions four distinct advantages: victory in the first trophy edition of the Battle of the Bears rivalry; the West Division regular season title; a first round playoff bye; and home field advantage throughout the OCAA post-season.

The Bruins, meanwhile, will play the first playoff game in program history on home turf, hosting Algonquin (2-4 OCAA) on Oct. 29 (1pm).