Hassam Munir, Sports and Health Editor
Featured image courtesy of York Lions
The Lions men’s basketball team fought hard all season long for their spot in the Ontario University Athletics playoffs, but just as they were about to hit the court for a post-season play, their season came to an abrupt and disappointing end.
York University Athletics and Recreation announced on the last day of February that an ineligible player had been participating in the games and that all games he had been involved in would have to be disqualified. This included nine regular season games overall and three crucial victories, without which the Lions gave up their spot in the OUA playoffs.
The player, who was not named, had participated in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport at another institution during the preseason and hence was not supposed to take part in the Lions’ games this season.
Prior to the debacle, the Lions had spent the final weeks of the regular season fighting their way through tough games. They lost to the Windsor Lancers by a score of 86-85 and to the Western Mustangs by 81-80. The Lions then edged the Algoma Thunderbirds by 68-67 and finally secured themselves a playoff spot by defeating the UofT Varsity Blues in a huge overtime victory by a score of 97-93.
The Lions lost to the dominant Ryerson Rams by a score of 81-72 in their final game of the regular season, perhaps taking it easier knowing they had already achieved their long-sought goal of making the playoffs. Two days later, on February 29, Athletics and Recreation finally broke the bad news to the team, the OUA, and the CIS.
However, instead of brooding over that, athletes on the team are reflecting on their performance throughout the season.
“I honestly don’t think we reached our full potential as a team,” says guard Shane Reader. “Mostly because of injuries, but we were definitely better than our record showed. We lost a handful of games by three or fewer points that could have gone either way.”
“We did everything well at some point or another,” he adds, “but (we) just couldn’t bring it all together consistently.”
Reader believes that the team needs to especially work on defense, which he says can be done by careful observation of the opponent’s strategy and game planning. “Our offence does need work,” he adds, “but we have enough weapons to score when chances come around.”
Looking forward to next season, Reader says that it will take more than just better defense and a summer of intensive workouts to get the team to where it needs to be.
“The goal for next season is to get a new coach that will help [our program],” he says. “It’s obviously time for a change after six long seasons of backing out in the first round of the playoffs, and you’ve all seen how this season ended.”
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