What a week of Basketball it was in the USports world. We had upsets, blowouts, and some new teams joining the Top 10 list in the nation to go along with some fantastic performances by the players. With that being said, let’s talk about the week that was in USports Men’s Basketball!
#1 in the Nation: University of Ottawa Gee-Gees
The Gee-Gees maintain their 1st in the nation ranking after defeating Carleton 71-61 in the Capital Hoops Classic this past Saturday. Brock Newton helped lead the way for the Gee-Gees dropping 20 points in the win and helping Ottawa claim bragging rights over the Ravens for the time being. The Gee-Gees will be back in action this weekend when they take on TMU on Friday, February 9th at 8 PM EST at home in Ottawa. the Gee-Gees will lace them up again at home versus the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, February 10th at 6 PM EST.
#2 in the Nation: UVictoria Vikes
The Vikes remain at 2nd in the nation after they kept on rolling last weekend defeating the Brandon Bobcats at home first on Friday 97-81 and then again on Saturday 81-67. USports leading scorer Diego Maffia dropped 29 points in the 97-81 victory and 28 points in the 81-67 victory keeping his spot atop the USports in points per game. The VVikes will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Edmonton to take on MacEwan, first on Friday, February 9th at 7 PM EST. Victoria and MacEwan will play again on Saturday, February 10th at 3 PM EST.
#3 in the Nation: Queen’s Gaels
The Queen’s Gaels stayed hot and at 3rd in the nation this past weekend hosting the Waterloo schools on their home court. The Gaels first defeated the formerly #4 ranked Laurier Golden Hawks last Friday 84-68 behind 16 points and 13 rebounds from Cole Syllas. The Gaels then faced off against the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday where the Gaels emerged victorious by a score of 106-65 behind 21 points from Luka Syllas. The Gaels will only lace them up once this weekend when they go on the road to Lakehead to take on the Thunderwolves on Friday, February 9th at 8 PM EST.
#4 in the Nation: University of British Columbia Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds found themselves with a rare “bye” week last week and haven’t played since they beat UBC Okanagan on January 27th. However, due to Laurier’s loss to Queen’s the Thunderbirds find themselves moving up 1 spot in the rankings from 5th to 4th best in the nation. That ranking will be tested this weekend though as the Thunderbirds have two huge home games against the now #5 ranked UCalgary Dinos to finish off the season. The first game of the doubleheader will be played on Friday, February 9th at 10:30 PM EST and the 2nd game of the doubleheader will be played Saturday, February 10th at 9 PM EST. Both of these games will be must-watch games for Canadian Hoops Fans and will be available to stream at canadawest.tv
#5 in the Nation: University of Calgary Dinos
The UCalgary Dinos are in a similar position to their opponents the UBC Thunderbirds this weekend. The Dinos have found themselves moving up 2 spots to 5th in the nation after the Laurier loss and the Dinos also have not played a game since defeating Lethbridge on January 27th. In addition, the Dinos will also be playing their last 2 games of their regular season this weekend in BC against the Thunderbirds. As mentioned prior, the Dinos and Thunderbirds will play on Friday, February 9th at 10:30 PM EST and again on Saturday, February 10th at 9 PM EST. These games are available to stream on canadawest.tv
#6 in the Nation: Laurier Golden Hawks
The Laurier Golden Hawks find themselves moving down the rankings 2 spots to 6th in the country following a tough road trip this past weekend. Laurier took their first loss of the weekend last Friday losing 84-68 to Queen’s. They then played on the road versus Ontario Tech and proceeded to lose that game as well 101-89. Safe to say this is not how the Golden Hawks wanted the weekend to play out. However, they have a chance to turn it around this weekend with back-to-back home games. Laurier first plays the Windsor Lancers on Friday, February 9th at 8 PM EST. The Golden Hawks are back in action the following day hosting the York Lions on Saturday, February 10th at 8 PM EST.
#7 in the Nation: STFX X-Men
The STFX X-Men move up one spot to 7th in the nation following a tough weekend for the Manitoba Bisons even though the X-Men got an unintended “bye” this past weekend due to raging snowstorms currently impacting the Atlantic coast of Canada, especially in Nova Scotia. Their game against Cape Breton scheduled for Saturday, February 3rd will be postponed to another date. Hopefully, the weather holds off this weekend and the X-Men can get back in action as planned! As of right now, STFX is scheduled to play the UNB Reds in Fredericton on Friday, February 9th at 7 PM EST and again on Saturday, February 10th at 3 PM EST but we will know soon whether these will need to be postponed as well (hopefully not).
#8 in the Nation: University of Manitoba Bisons
The Manitoba Bisons find themselves moving down 2 spots in the rankings to 8th in the nation following a tough weekend of hoops. The Bisons did a home-and-home with the Winnipeg Wesmen and were unable to secure a win in either game. They first lost last Thursday 86-79 on the road, and proceeded to lose again 88-78 this time at home. The Bisons will look to get on the right track this weekend with a home doubleheader to end their regular season against the UBC-Okanagan Heat. The first game of the doubleheader will be played Friday, February 9th at 9 PM EST followed by the 2nd game of the double-header being played on Saturday, February 10th at 8 PM EST.
#9 in the Nation: Ontario Tech Ridgebacks
Rank the Ridgebacks is something that I found myself saying following the season and the weekend they’ve had. It seems as if the committee has listened ranking the Ridgebacks 9th in the nation. The Ridgebacks are a remarkable story any Canadian Basketball fan can get behind as they went from being one of the worst teams in USports Basketball with a 4-22 record last year to a 15-4 record so far as well as being a top 10 team in the country this year. Similar to Queen’s, Ontario Tech hosted the Waterloo Universities this weekend starting with the Waterloo Warriors last Friday whom they defeated 90-82. The Ridgebacks followed up that win by beating the formerly #4 ranked Laurier Golden Hawks 100-89 to earn their 5th win against a ranked opponent. The Ridgebacks will look to extend their win streak to 6 games as they travel to Thunder Bay to take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday, February 10th at 8 PM EST.
#10 in the Nation: University of Western Ontario Mustangs
The Western Mustangs stay in the 10th spot in the country but they found themselves back on the right track this past week after picking up a big home and road win. They first hosted the Guelph Gryphons in London last Wednesday and defeated said Gryphons by a score of 96-88. They then found themselves traveling to St. Catharine’s on Saturday to take on the Brock Badgers. Western defeated the Badgers 81-61 and headed home with some positive momentum. This weekend the Mustangs will head to Guelph in a rematch with the Gryphons on Saturday, February 10th at 4 PM EST.
Missing from the last top 10: UQAM Citadins
UQAM finds themselves outside of the rankings this week due to back-to-back losses against Laval last week. They first lost last Thursday at home in a heartbreaker 67-64. UQAM then followed that up on Saturday losing to Laval again, this time on the road and by a score of 84-72. The Citadins will look to bounce back this week when they have another home and home with the Concordia Stingers. The First game was played at home on Thursday, February 8th with UQAM coming out victorious 90-76, while game 2 will be played on the road on Saturday, February 10th at 4 PM EST.
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