BRAMPTON, Ont. - After a weekend sweep of Algoma (75-54) and Sault (97-54) the Sheridan Bruins men's basketball team (24-8, 12-4 OCAA) now find themselves in control of their playoff fate, with a bye directly to the OCAA quarter-finals theirs if they win their two remaining games.
"We're playing very well right now and I couldn't be happier with the contributions we're getting from different guys," head coach Jim Flack said. "We've got one more road trip and then we're right into March Madness which college basketball is all about."
Against Algoma the opening quarter was tight, with the two clubs volleying the lead back-and-forth seven times in the opening 10 minutes - the last of which came on the strength of a Sheridan 6-0 run, which gave the home side a 15-14 lead.
In the second quarter, the double-blue led by as many as six and as few as one but went into halftime on top, 33-30.
Algoma drilled a three-pointer to open the second half that brought them level, but the Bruins responded with a 9-0 run that restored their advantage and it would be one they would not relinquish.
In the final quarter the Bruins out-scored Algoma 23-10 which made a very close game appear to be a lopsided one.
Denmark McDonald scored 11 of his 19 points in the final frame. Khalid Abdel-Gabar also scored 19, while Orlando Palmer (11) and Dylan Periana (11) were also in double figures.
Less than 24 hours later, the Bruins got out to a sluggish start, allowing Sault to open the game on an 8-0 run.
They eventually found their legs though and used runs of 12-0, 13-0 and 17-0 to help create the wide margin.
Abdel-Gabar paced the club with 20 points, while four others - Periana (13), Palmer (12), Matt Cosby (11) and McDonald (10) - hit double-digits.
As the last home game of the season, it was senior day and the club recognized Cosby and Abdel-Gabar who have each played in 52 OCAA conference games and will not be returning to the school next year.
"I couldn't be prouder of [both] Matt and Khalid," Flack said. "They've both made great contributions to our program. Every player puts some sort of cement into the foundation and the history of it and both of them have done more than their fair share of that."
The Bruins close out their OCAA West schedule with a trip to southwestern Ontario where they will play St. Clair (February 17) and Lambton (February 18).
Blue notes: The victory against Sault was the 100th Bruin triumph in the Davis Campus gym. Since moving into the new gym in the fall of 2005, the team has compiled a 100-12 record on their home floor. It was also the first time since they moved into the facility that they have completed their regular season schedule unbeaten at home. In 10 all-time OCAA conference meetings, Sheridan and Algoma each have five wins, with all victories being supplied by the home team. As close as the series is, only two games have been decided by single digits and five have had margins of 21 points or more. Abdel-Gabar became just the fifth Sheridan basketball player to top 900 points in a career, moving into fourth place on the team's all-time scoring list with 920.
Source: Sheridan I.T.