SHERIDAN 80, MOHAWK 74 (FINAL)

BRAMPTON, Ont. - In order to pick up their first OCAA West win of the new year, the Sheridan Bruins men's basketball team (19-7, 7-3 OCAA) had much to overcome - there were a pair of first half deficits that reached double digits; second half foul trouble; and periods of offensive stagnation - against a game Mohawk squad.

But in the end a gritty performance allowed the double-blue to pull control away down the stretch, preserving an 80-74 triumph.

"The thing that made [the coaches] happiest today was the fact that it was one of those games where we just toughed it out," assistant coach Dave Ferencina said. "We wore them down and we didn't necessarily game plan it that way, but our guards did a good job of pressuring their guards and that helped to wear them down, which made a big, big difference."

After staking themselves to an early 7-2 lead, the Bruins saw Mohawk respond with a 15-0 run, which helped carry them to a 24-12 lead after the first quarter.

An 18-4 Sheridan run pulled the home side level at 30 points apiece, but the first half of runs continued with Mohawk closing the frame on a 14-3 run to lead 44-33 at intermission.

Yet another run to start the third quarter - this time 16-4 in favour of the Bruins and capped by a three pointer from Anthony Burnett - gave the home side their first lead since the early stages. It wouldn't last though as the two squads would volley the lead back and forth six times in the final moments of the third quarter and early moments of the fourth.

But trailing 68-64, Orlando Palmer sparked a 6-0 run that gave Sheridan the lead for good. Palmer would go on to score 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. Denmark McDonald (18) and Burnett (13) were also in double figures for the Bruins.

While they played five games between December 28 and January 4, this game marked their first action in 17 days and first OCAA West contest in seven weeks.

They now face a two week stretch where they will play four times, with the first three on the road. Ferencina says that after the gap during the holidays it will actually be good for the team to get some more games in and notes that nobody is doing anything but focusing on the next team on the calendar.

"We had been off for a while - after Christmas we had a few games - but it's been a long layoff since our last OCAA game so I think we want to get back at it," he said, "and now that we are, we'll take them one by one. We've got Fanshawe next [Wednesday], so we're not looking too far ahead. We're trying to focus possession by possession and game by game."

Blue notes: After Mohawk hit on 17 of 28 attempts in the first half (60.7 per cent) the Bruins were able to limit them to eight of 21 (38.1 per cent) in the second half. The win marked the fourth consecutive season in which Sheridan and Mohawk have split their season series. Prior to that, they had only done so on six occasions all time and not since the 1989-90 season. The Bruins now hold a slim 6-5 advantage in the most recent 11 meetings between the two. In the 19 meetings before that, the double-blue had won 18, which included streaks of 10 and eight consecutive.

Source: Sheridan I.T.