SECOND ACT

The second half of the 2014-15 OCAA men's basketball regular season will tip off this Wednesday as 20 teams race for the 11 available post-season positions.

Only the Durham Lords are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs as host of this year's belairdirect OCAA Men's Basketball Championship, taking place in Oshawa, Ont. from March 6-8.

Thirty-three days will have elapsed between OCAA regular season games, but teams have not been idle during the December break. On the contrary, most programs have been active preparing for the home stretch of games that will define their respective seasons.

Fanshawe College hosted the inaugural East-West Holiday Series involving six OCAA programs, including the Falcons. Each team played three games against interdivisional opponents. Fanshawe and Sheridan went undefeated at the tournament with wins over Centennial, George Brown and Seneca. George Brown was the only east region team to earn a win in the two days of competition, edging Humber 85-84.

George Brown went on to host its own tournament, defeating Sault and Durham before losing in the championship game to Mohawk 101-72. Fifth-year guard Matt Fennell (London, Ont.) scored 30 points and added six rebounds for Mohawk en route to being named tournament MVP. With wins over first-place Durham and Humber, George Brown should have plenty of confidence heading into the second half of the regular season.

At the same George Brown tournament, St. Lawrence-Kingston upset Georgian 84-80. The Vikings are one of only two teams to defeat Georgian thus far in the regular season, winning 87-83 back in October. Georgian went on to win the consolation final 75-72 over Durham. While Georgian sits comfortably in a three-way tie for first place in the east with Durham and Centennial, St. Lawrence needs all the wins it can get, locked in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot when regular season play resumes.

Incidentally, Mohawk also participated at the Ryerson University tournament, losing to the host Rams of OUA but edging Bishop's of RSEQ 99-98.

The Lambton Lions continue to impress in 2015, winning the Loyalist New Year's tournament with wins over Nouvelles Frontieres of RSEQ, Algonquin and the host Lancers in the championship final. Each of Lambton's wins were by 16 or more points. Fourth-year forward Mike Lucier (Forest, Ont.) was named tournament MVP.

The Niagara Knights went undefeated on home court with wins over St. Lawrence and Seneca in its mini-tournament. With a 3-6 regular season record, the Knights are hoping these outcomes propel them to a positive start in the second half.

FAB FIVE

Here are five upcoming regular season matches worth noting during the next seven weeks.

Fanshawe at Humber, Jan. 9 - So much for easing into the second half of the regular season. Both teams are tied atop of the OCAA west standings with an 8-1 mark. The winning team gets the pole position in the west for the remainder of the regular season.

Lambton at Fanshawe, Jan. 18 - With Lambton and Fanshawe jockeying for playoff seeding, these teams square off at the venerable Budweiser Gardens prior to a London Lightning game. Lambton handed Fanshawe its only regular season loss last October.

Loyalist at Seneca, Feb. 10 - Both teams enter the second half tied at 6-4 in fourth place in the east standings. A win for either of these teams will go a long way in locking up a post-season berth, and potentially a home playoff game.

Georgian at Centennial, Feb. 18 - With Durham earning an automatic entry into the OCAA championship tournament, the regular season finale for Georgian at Centennial may decide who receives the lone bye out of the east directly into the OCAA final eight, and a possible regional crown.

Humber at Mohawk, Feb. 20 - Let's not forget about the Mohawk Mountaineers, who are hosting this year's national championship in March. Mohawk is very much in play for a regional title with the top two teams in the west earning a bye into provincials. Could this be a preview of the OCAA gold medal game?

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Source: OCAA Communications