BRAMPTON, Ont. - After trailing by as many as 12 in the opening 20 minutes, the Sheridan Bruins men's basketball team (26-9, 15-5 OCAA) took over in the second half and outscored Humber 52-34 to secure a 90-80 victory in the 121st edition of The Game.
"I was very pleased with our effort tonight," head coach Jim Flack said. "We made some timely shots in the second half, and Nick Campbell refused to let us lose."
A 14-5 Sheridan run - capped by a dunk from Kahleek Bakari-Whyte - gave the Bruins the edge for the first time since the late stages of the opening frame. Humber responded with a 10-2 run of their own and restored a seven-point cushion.
But by the end of the period it was a one-possession game, after Romar Subban picked off a pass, took it the distance, and laid it in before the horn sounded to trim Humber's lead to 63-61.
The Double Blue opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run over the first 2:44 to lead 72-63. However the visitors would not go away quietly and used strong perimeter shooting to keep them within touch. They finished the night shooting a higher percentage from 3-point range than they did overall, connecting on 14-of-29 attempts.
Sheridan made plays when they needed to down the stretch though, and after Campbell corralled an offensive rebound in the corner and fed a streaking Jemol Edwards for a left-handed layup and-one, the Bruins had a nearly insurmountable 86-78 lead with 53 seconds remaining.
Campbell scored a career-high 32 points on a hyper-efficient 12-of-18 shooting - including 3-3 from 3-point range and 5-5 from the charity stripe - to go along with nine rebounds and three steals. He has been at his best in the two rivalry matchups, averaging 31 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.0 steals while shooting .621/.500/.928 in the two Sheridan/Humber meetings this season.
Bakari-Whyte (20) and Edwards (12) were also in double figures for Sheridan, while Tremaine Anderson hauled down a game-high 14 boards. Prior to the game Anderson, along with AJ Thompson, were recognized during a senior night ceremony for their contributions to the program.
"AJ and Tre have been important parts of our history," Flack said. "It was our honour to coach such fine young men. Hopefully we get to coach them a whole lot more in the next month."
The victory locked the Double Blue into second place in the OCAA West and they will now host an Round of 16 playoff game on Feb. 23 with their opponent yet to be finalized.
Blue notes: Campbell has been climbing the Sheridan all-time scoring list all season and moved past Maurice Smith to sit in 3rd with 984 career points.
After scoring a career-high 32 points on Friday, Nick Campbell moved into 3rd place on the @sheridancollege men's �� all-time scoring list �� pic.twitter.com/aTTyK88lCH
— Sheridan Bruins (@sheridanbruins) February 17, 2019
