BRAMPTON, Ont. - They had their share of good moments, bad
moments and even a few ugly ones mixed in but the Sheridan Bruins
men's basketball team (18-7, 6-3 OCAA) still managed to drop two of
the top three teams in the East - third place George Brown and
division leading Centennial - in their final non-conference games
of the season.
"I thought we played sloppy, turned the ball over a lot against not
very intense defence and [we had] some guys just not
concentrating," assistant coach Leroy Cassanova
said after the game against Centennial. "We missed a lot of shots
that could have been easy makes early in the game and we had a lot
of missed free throws which is a good indicator of our
concentration level. We did play fairly intense defence and caused
some turnovers and we took control of the game that way, but
overall we just needed a better effort in a lot of areas."
Against George Brown the Bruins pushed their lead to 10 late in the
first quarter, only to see their opponents trim it just two early
in the second.
The home side would respond with a 20-4 run that gave them a 47-29
lead at the break.
In the second half, the double-blue slowly began to pull away and
didn't allow George Brown to get any closer than 16 on their way to
an 83-53 triumph.
Five Sheridan players were in double-figures - Khalid
Abdel-Gabar (21), Denmark McDonald (16),
Matt Cosby (11), Orlando Palmer
(11) and Allan Anderson (11).
In the final game of the day, both Sheridan and Centennial started
slow with the Bruins holding a 13-6 lead after the first
quarter.
A 14-5 run midway through the second frame helped the double-blue
to secure a 38-19 halftime edge.
The Bruins once again began pulling away slowly in the second half
and ended up with a 90-68 win, their third of the season against
Centennial.
Abdel-Gabar led the way once again with 27 points and he's now
scored at least 20 in his last five non-conference games.
McDonald chipped in with 20 while Palmer (13) and Cosby (10) were
also in double-figures.
The club now has more than two weeks to prepare for their next game
against Mohawk on January 21 and Cassanova says he's expecting the
team's performance to improve as they get back into the routine of
practice and knock off some New Years rust.
"We just have to pick up our intensity and be excited to play," he
said. "It looks like we were dragging coming off the break - that
does play a role in it as well, guys trying to get back into a
groove - but we've had a few practices and played in a tournament
already so we shouldn't have been as behind the eight-ball as we
were tonight. Hopefully once league play starts again we'll be able
to pick up our level in intensity and concentration and just put a
better product on the floor."
Blue notes: The games were a part of the Belair Direct Holiday
Series, which had been played in late December the last few
years.
Source: Sheridan I.T.