BRAMPTON, Ont. - In a battle of the OCAA West's top two teams, it was truly a tale of two halves for the Sheridan Bruins men's basketball team (23-5, 13-3 OCAA). In the first they were firing on all cylinders - leading by as many as 22 while connecting on 55 per cent of their field goal attempts - but as good as they were in that opening 20 minutes, they were equally inept over the final 20 - with just five made baskets in the second half - and suffered a 91-80 defeat to Redeemer. 

"Redeemer is in first place for a reason. They have a 'refuse to lose' mentality that your experienced players need to have," head coach Jim Flack said. "I guarantee that [Rayvon] Higdon never had any doubt they were going to win, even down 18 at half. Meanwhile, we've struggled to develop a killer instinct all season long."

The Bruins led 26-19 after one and pushed that to 56-38 at the break. 

Plagued by turnovers in the early portion of the third quarter, Sheridan saw Redeemer completely steal all the momentum they had built in the first half. 

Although the Double Blue had been wobbled for much of the second half, it was still a two-point ball game with less than five minutes to play.

But the Bruins' inability to capitalize in the second half - shooting a dismal .119 from the floor - came back to bite them, as Redeemer closed out the final 4:27 on an 11-4 run. 

While Flack was certainly disappointed in the outcome, he said the team will look to move on as quickly as possible.

"We don't have time to wallow in misery," he said. "The guys have to put it behind them so we can prepare for Mohawk. You need a short memory in the basketball business."

Sheridan travels to Mohawk (7-9 OCAA) on Feb. 10 (6pm).