BARRIE, Ont. - The Georgian Grizzlies played host for a pair of OCAA basketball games against the Loyalist Lancers Friday night at the Georgian Athletic Centre in Barrie.

The women's team put together a terrific performance in the first game thanks to some great efforts and a strong second quarter.

Leading by just one point after one the Grizzlies offence broke out scoring 27 points in the second quarter to take a 40-26 lead into halftime.

Both teams continued to battle in the second half but the Grizzlies were able to hold their lead in a 67-54 victory.

Summer Bly (Barrie) was a star again for Georgian scoring 21 points and 19 rebounds for her second straight double-double.

The Grizzlies also had great games from rookie Erial Barnard (Collingwood) who had 17 points along with 10 points efforts from Jazmyn Canning (Barrie) and Megan Copegog (Midland).

On the men's side, the Grizzlies had a tough start out of the gate and battled but couldn't find their game through the first three quarters.

Trailing by 12 points with 10 minutes left the Grizzlies came together putting up 24 fourth quarter points to take the lead with less than 20 seconds left.

After the Lancers were able to tie the game with a free throw with 4.3 seconds left on the clock the Grizzlies had one last chance to avoid overtime.

Following a Georgian timeout, the Grizzlies put the ball in the hands of third-year veteran Justin Mitchell.

The Newmarket native didn't disappoint driving the lane and hitting a clutch shot just outside the paint to give the Grizzlies a 75-73 victory.

The win improved the Grizzlies record to 5-3 on the season.

The Grizzlies men's and women's teams will play their final home games of the first half of the season Wednesday night when they host the Durham Lords at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Georgian Athletic Centre.

Source: Georgian College