Uzodinma Ukagwu | Sports Editor
Featured image courtesy of YorkU Lions
The Lions men’s and women’s basketball teams hosted their crosstown rivals, the U of T Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams, this weekend at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions lost three out of the four games, with the women producing the only victory against U of T, in the first game of the weekend.
On Friday, the women opened the action against the Varsity Blues. The Lions took an early 11-2 lead, but U of T recovered before the end of the quarter to lead 17-16.
The game continued to be tight in the second quarter, but the Lions reclaimed the lead towards the end, finishing the half with a slim, 28-27 lead.
It was in the third quarter that the Lions finally opened the gap, outscoring the Blues by six points to lead 47-40.
The Lions held on to their lead in the final quarter, en route to a 69-61 victory.
It was all downhill from there for the Lions, as the men played next against U of T. Though the Lions took a five-point lead into the second, great offensive play from the Blues saw them outscore the Lions by seven points in the second quarter to lead 30-28 at the half.
The Lions reclaimed the lead 44-42, by the end of the third quarter, after some great play of their own, but failed to hold on in the final quarter, as the Blues charged to a 63-58 victory.
On Saturday, against the Ryerson Rams, the women finished the first quarter one point behind the Rams at 19-18. The Lions then outscored them in the second quarter, stealing a 40-37 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Rams took their performance up a notch. Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to match them, with the Rams outscoring the Lions 22-8 in the third, and 12-6 in the fourth, to finish with a 71-54 victory.
The story was similar for the men’s game immediately after. The Lions were on top for most of the game, outscoring Ryerson in the first and second quarters to lead 43-38 by half-time.
The Rams only managed to reduce York’s lead by one point in the third quarter, but had a superb fourth, outscoring the Lions 27-16, en route to an 84-77 victory.
Next weekend, both teams head to the Nation’s capital to face uOttawa on Friday, and Carleton on Saturday. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men.
