By Elio Elia
The Dalhousie University Tigers eliminated the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees from the U Sports Final 8 on Friday at Lansdowne’s TD Place arena, beating the host team by a score of 67-63. Dalhousie will play the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the semifinals of the nationals championships at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
In their game against the Gee-Gees, the Tigers played catch-up for most of the first quarter as uOttawa led. That was before Dalhousie guard Shamar Burrows nailed a game-altering buzzer beater three pointer to send the game to its second quarter tied 17-17, while also reinvigorating the Tigers. Dahousie seemed sparked by Burrows’ three-ball, playing with more overall energy than the Gee-Gees for the ensuing three-quarters of play.
In the second quarter, Dalhousie led much of the way throughout, but would remain tied with the Gee-Gees at halftime by a score of 31-31.
Dalhousie was finally able to outscore uOttawa in the third, scoring 17 points versus the Gee-Gees 15, to take a 48-46 lead going into the fourth. The Tigers clearly found their pacing in the third quarter, which they would carry into the fourth.
In the final period, a clearly now-in-their-groove Tigers team looked comfortable as they led throughout. The Gee-Gees managed to claw back to bring the gap to a four-point margin – but that’s as close as they would get.
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Second-year Gee-Gees forward Guillaume Pepin was a standout on the losing side, scoring 23 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. The Montrealer led the team and was supported by fifth-year Toronto guard Calvin Epistola, who had 18 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
uOttawa’s 6-foot-10 man-in-the-middle Marlon Kordrostami (who hails from Ottawa) had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Canada Topflight Academy alumnus Dragan Stajic had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist for uOttawa.
The Gee-Gees will play against the Western Mustangs on Saturday at the Ravens Nest at 6 p.m., in the Final 8’s consolation tournament.
READ MORE: Carleton Ravens defeat Calgary Dinos to advance to U Sports semifinals
Keep reading the Ottawa Sportspage for coverage of uOttawa and Carleton throughout the weekend of the U Sports Final 8.
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