TORONTO — Alex Campbell and Rotimi Osuntola Jr. scored 13 points apiece as the second-seeded Windsor Lancers withstood a late rally to defeat the No. 6 Bishop’s Gaiters 91-80 on Friday in a CIS men’s basketball championship consolation game.
Mike Rocca had 10 points for Windsor, a team-high seven rebounds, and was 3-for-5 from the three-point line to earn player of the game honours. Evan Matthews added 11 points while Khalid Abdel-Gabar, Mitch Farrell and Marko Kovac chipped in with 10 points apiece.
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"As competitors, every game we want to win," Rocca said. "That’s the way it is when you’re an athlete. "We’re going to fight. We’re all competitors, we’ve all got big hearts. We’re ready to play."
Mike Andrews led Bishop’s with 29 points and eight rebounds. Jona Bermillo had 12 points off the bench.
Rocca and Osuntola Jr. got the Lancers off to a fast start, each making three pointers for a 9-2 lead within the first two minutes of the game. Bishop’s tied the game 9-9 and but trailed by five after the first quarter.
Windsor took an eight-point advantage into the half thanks to three pointers by Kovac, Abdel-Gadar and Bradford Parker.
The Lancers’ lead increased to 13 in the third as Rocca hit a corner three to make it 59-46 with 4:56 remaining. But Andrews scored 10 points in the quarter to cut Windsor’s lead back down to eight.
The Gaiters comeback continued in the final quarter through a pair of Bermillo three-pointers before his bank shot tied the game 76-76 with 4:53 to play.
A dunk and a layup from Osuntola Jr. gave Windsor an 82-78 edge before Campbell hit a jumper and a three-pointer to put the game out of reach.
"I was pleased that our guys pushed back and tried to get back in the game," Bishop’s coach Rod Gilpin said. "But after last night, losing today doesn’t hurt. Losing last night still hurts and I’m sure it does for the Windsor guys too."
Windsor closes out its season for fifth place against the Saskatchewan Huskies, who downed the Dalhousie Tigers 90-79 in Friday’s earlier consolation semi.
Evan Ostertag scored a team-high 32 points for Saskatchewan while Dadrian Collins added 21 points in the afternoon victory at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Final 8 semifinals are on tap Saturday and the medal games are set for Sunday.