Banner Season: Bold Men’s Basketball Grind Their Way to Wilson Cup Victory
Toronto (C/O Finn Noel, TMU Bolc) — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s basketball team won the Wilson Cup OUA Championship on Saturday evening, 66-56, against the Carleton Ravens at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The victory was the first for the Bold men’s program since 2017, when the squad took home back-to-back Wilson Cup trophies. The Bold women’s basketball team also won the OUA Critelli Cup championship on Saturday afternoon, marking the first time in TMU basketball history that both of the program’s basketball teams were crowned OUA champions in the same night and same building.
The matchup was a battle of defence against defence: the two teams ranked number one and two provincially in points allowed per game this regular season, with Carleton at 63.5 and TMU at 67.9.
“That was an all-out war, wasn’t it?” commented Bold Head Coach David DeAveiro after the game.
That defensive strength was evident in the box score. No individual player scored more than 18 points in the matchup, and only four players finished with double figures.
Each team scored far less than its respective regular season points per game: TMU averaged 82.9 (17 points more than their production against the Ravens), and Carleton averaged 78.4 (22 points more).
Neither team shot over 40 per cent from the field, 25 per cent from three, or 65 per cent from the free-throw line.
The recently-appointed back-to-back OUA Men’s Player of the Year, Aaron Rhooms, led the Bold with 16 points. Rhooms, playing in the last home game of his OUA career as a fifth-year, was grateful to end things on a high note.
“Coming here in 2021, I’ve been ‘knocking on the door’ [of the Wilson Cup], so to speak, every year. To finally walk through that door this year, it means the world.”
It was difficult throughout the entire grit-and-grind match for any player to get into a rhythm. The athletes wasted most of their efforts dealing with physical contact, rendering even open shots as low-percentage looks.
Through the shooting struggles, guard Gabriel Gutsmore acted as the rock for the Bold. The third-year guard provided 14 points on an efficient 7-of-14 (50%) shooting from the field, and was named the Wilson Cup Player of the Game. His ability to get to the rim for short-range looks helped TMU stay solid down the stretch.
“It was the biggest game,” said Gutsmore after the win, “we worked all season for this time right now. Carleton is pretty much known for its defence, so I just played with the flow of the game…my teammates found me when I was open, and I found them when they were open. You can’t just guard one person, you have to guard the whole team.”
Carleton’s offence, on the other hand, was kept alive by their points per game leader MJ Okado. The senior guard racked up a game-high 18 points with four three-pointers. Using his elite athleticism to sky for key rebounds down the stretch, Okado’s hustle ensured the Ravens stayed in the game.
After going down 5-0 early, TMU came alive and managed to hold a lead for the remaining 36 minutes of the match. While Gutsmore, Rhooms, and guard/forward Deandre Goulbourne’s nine points and nine rebounds were enough to take the win on offence, it was the Bold’s ability to stay solid physically that led them to victory.
“We talked about matching their physicality before the game,” explained DeAveiro, “and I said, ‘Oh no, reverse that. They need to meet our physicality.’ So the guys came out and did that.”
Both the Bold and Ravens will advance to the U SPORTS Championship in Calgary, Alberta.
TMU has the chance to win its first national championship in program history, while the Ravens look to take home the honours for the first time since 2020.
