When you're missing the top College men's basketball player in Canada, things can get a bit more challenging for a team.
Just ask the George Brown Huskies who lost the 36
Fanshawe College Falcons of London, with 14 points from tournament MVP and all-star Alex Thompson, defeated George Brown, 85-66.
The Huskies, who started strong and led 22-17 after the opening quarter, saw Fanshawe take control in the second and never look back. The Falcons led 38-34 at halftime, 58-51 after three quarters and outscored the Huskies 27-15 in the final quarter.
While Fanshawe won, the focus was on the status of talented guard Vadim Halimov who has had a banner season and leads the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association and Ontario Colleges Athletic Association in scoring.
The George Brown star, hoping to become the OCAA all-time leading scorer later this year, missed the final resting an ankle injured in a morning semifinal win over Durham.
"Best to rest him for a tournament game when we need him for the regular season," said Huskies head coach Jonathan Smith, who didn't sound to be overly worried with the Halimov injury.
"We knew (Fanshawe) was good and it would be tough without (Halimov) but in the past few games, we adopted a new identity play hard and physical as a team. While I wasn't happy with the loss, the effort and work ethic of everyone else on the team, was impressive."
Chavaun Miller-Bennett added 13 points for Fanshawe and was also chosen a tournament all-star. For George Brown, Dejazmatch James led the Huskies with 19 points while Dennis Johnson had 13 and Ted Johnson added 10.
Smith said Halimov is expected to return to the George Brown lineup in time for the Huskies OCAA second half season opener against Durham.
Fanshawe, with a 6-3 record and third place in the OCAA's West Division was the team that eliminated George Brown in last year's opening round of the playoffs. The Huskies were 16-4 at the time.
Getting to the George Brown tournament final this year, meant the Falcons needed an 86-81 come-from-behind win over Humber College of Toronto. In the tourney opener, Fanshawe dusted Georgian College of Barrie, 84-76 in overtime.
In the win over Humber, the Hawks surprised Fanshawe and had led 49-42 at the half. In that game, Miller-Bennett scored a game-high 25 points while Emerson Rodgers was tops for Humber with 19 points.
George Brown qualified for the championship game, after beating Cambrian 89-66 in a quarterfinal and then sending Durham College on the road back to Oshawa after the Huskies prevailed, 72-63.
In the Consolation Final, Dawson College of Montreal, ahead 35-31 at halftime, beat St. Lawrence College of Kingston, 83-74. Brendan Robinson scored 22 points for Dawson while Andrew Dawkins led Humber scorers with 27 points. - DG
