SHERIDAN 88, MOHAWK 70

NORTH YORK, Ont. - They came in with the best regular season record and left with the championship trophy. It was a truly remarkable year for the OCAA's best basketball team as the Sheridan Bruins defeated the defending national champion Mohawk Mountaineers 88-70 on Saturday night.

CCAA all-Canadian Manny Campbell opened the scoring for the Mountaineers. Alex Reis followed suit with back-to-back baskets which helped Mohawk put together an 8-0 run to lead the Bruins 14-6. Mohawk continued to overwhelm the Bruins, leading 21-10 after one quarter. Jeff Hunt scored seven for Mohawk.

The second quarter saw the Mountaineers continue their dominance as they took a 33-19 lead with 5:10 to play in the half. The Bruins finally found their range midway through the quarter as shots began to fall from beyond the arc. A two by Jahmal McQueen with 1.5 seconds left cut the lead to 39-33 at the half. Trevor Williams scored eight in the quarter.

As he did in the first quarter, Campbell opened up the third quarter with a basket to extend the Mountaineers lead to eight, but the momentum was about to shift. Sheridan tied the game at 41 with 7:07 to play in the quarter. The onslaught continued as Sheridan's run would last for 16 points as they took a 49-41 lead. Andrew Stephenson and Williams aided in the run as Williams boosted his game total to 26 points. Stephenson's basket with 10 seconds left gave Sheridan a 65-56 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Williams scored 18 in the third quarter.

Sheridan extended its lead to 14 with six and a half minutes to play before Stephenson and Williams struck again. The two helped propel the Bruins to an 18-point lead as the clock hit double zeroes and the Bruins were crowned champions of the OCAA.

Williams finished with 35 points and seven assists in being named Player of the Game. Michael Selkridge added 15 points while Paul Williams pulled down 11 rebounds.

The Mountaineers were paced by Taylor Dowhaniuk's 16 points and 10 rebounds. Reis added 14 points and eight rebounds. Dowhaniuk was named Mohawk's Player of the Game.

This was Sheridan's first OCAA medal in men's basketball since winning silver in 2011 and their first championship since 2008.

Sheridan's Trevor Williams was named the tournament's most valuable player. Teammate Selkridge was named to the all-star team along with Dowhaniuk and Reis from the Mountaineers.

Source: Seneca College