BRAMPTON, Ont. - One win, six losses. That was the record of the Durham College men's basketball team after an 85-75 loss to the La Cité Coyotes on Nov. 16. One hundred and five days later, the Lords can now lay claim to a final four finish at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championship, something no one would have predicted except for the group of players and coaches inside their locker room.
"The team never gave up," said Durham head coach Desmond Rowley. "I give the players a ton of credit for fighting back to get to this point. They showed a lot of heart and character out on the court all season long and they should be very proud of their efforts. Facing adversity only made us stronger and the group is already looking forward to what is to come next season."
To qualify for this weekend's OCAA championship, the Lords finished on a 9-4 run which included three straight wins to close out the regular season. In the OCAA qualifying round one week prior, Durham made the four-hour trek to Windsor where they would come out with a 10-point upset victory over the St. Clair Saints.
After suffering an opening round loss to the No. 2-ranked Algonquin Thunder on Thursday, the Lords reeled off back-to-back wins over Seneca (78-75) and Mohawk (96-90) to qualify for the bronze medal game. Unfortunately for Durham, the team ran out of gas falling short of winning their first medal since 1997, losing to Humber 85-70.
This year marked the first time since the 1998 season that Durham finished in the final four at the OCAA championship. That season, the Lords also placed fourth losing in the bronze medal game to Algonquin 75-60. The last year Durham earned a medal at the provincial championship was in 1997, when the Lords earned gold and went on to win the CCAA national championship.
There were a lot of highlights in the Lords run at the podium but possibly the most memorable was the performance of Ajahmo Clarke (Ajax, Ont.) on Saturday afternoon as he went off for 48 points against the No. 7-ranked Mohawk Mountaineers to send Durham to the final four. For his efforts throughout the weekend, Clarke was named to the championship all-star team.
In the bronze medal game, Humber seemed to have a little extra jump in their step coming into the game with two hours of extra rest after beating George Brown 81-60 prior to Durham-Mohawk match. Humber opened the game shooting 57 per cent from the field in the first half to take a 16-point advantage, a lead they would never relinquish.
Clarke would end up leading all Durham scorers with 15 points while Dylan Pelissero (11), Eric Smith (10) and Curtis Johnson (10) all reached double digits. Pelissero recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds while Smith had seven.
Humber's Greg Edelsward was the leading point getter in the game with 27 points shooting 11-for-15.
Durham will now look forward to hosting the OCAA's top volleyball and basketball student-athletes when they host the all-star games on Saturday, Mar. 22. This will be the first time in league history that both events will be hosted at the same venue on the same day.
Source: Durham College