RECAP: No. 1 Ottawa marches into the semi-finals with win over Concordia

Photo: Emir Atli.
Photo: Emir Atli.
March 13, 2025
Vancouver - The top-seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees started their third consecutive national tournament off with a bang, downing the No. 8-seeded Concordia Stingers 79-69 in the second quarterfinal of the 2025 INDOCHINO U SPORTS Men's Basketball Final 8, presented by Victory Creative Group, at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, Thursday. The win highlighted the depth of the Ottawa squad as five Gee-Gees put up double-figures in points.
 
The OUA champions opened strongly, jumping out to a nine-point lead before finishing the first quarter ahead 15-8. They continued their strong play throughout the 2nd, extending the lead to 16 points and going into the half up 38-22.
 
The Stingers charged back in the 3rd and took the lead 51-50 on a 3-point jump shot by Roxboro, Que.'s Junior Mercy with 3 seconds left in quarter. Both teams traded baskets until Ottawa retook the lead with 8 minutes remaining in the 4th, and cruised to the win from there.
 
Ottawa was led by fourth-year forward Brock Newton of Fergus, Ont. who netted 17 points. Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, Jacques-Melaine Guemeta, Khalifa Koulamallah, and Ankit Choudhary also put up double-digit nights with 14, 13, 11 and 10 points respectively.
Fourth year Sociology major Alec Phaneuf lead all scorers, putting up 19 points for the Stingers, nabbing Player of the Game honours. Karam Sahly also scored 14 points, while Junior Mercy had 12 in the losing effort.
 
Ottawa is next on the floor against the UVic Vikes on Friday at 6 p.m. (Pacific) in the first national semifinal. Concordia will meet Bishop's in a rematch of the RSEQ finals in the first consolation game on Friday at 11 a.m (Pacific)

via U SPORTS.