BRAMPTON – You won't see his name among the top scorers in a College basketball game, but that doesn't bother George Brown College rookie starting guard John Cadougan.

The 18-year old has the big job of shutting down the top player on the opposing team and, looking back at his impressive debut with the Huskies, Cadougan has received glowing praise from head coach Jonathan Smith.

Cadougan did it again, in probably his best game of the year, giving his teammates the opportunity to beat Fanshawe College of London, 80-70, in their Ontario Colleges Athletic Association bronze medal quarterfinal elimination game.

The score was flattering for Fanshawe who had trouble with the Huskies speed and transition game. The Falcons made it interesting in the final quarter.

And thanks to the work of Cadougan, it was just that – sudden death for the Falcons.

For George Brown, it meant a ticket to the Final Four for the bronze medal. Two more wins and the Huskies will have their second bronze since 1989, that's 25 years ago.

Back to Cadougan, who only scored four points, grabbed five rebounds, had four steals and two assists. The biggest statistic for him was stuffing his body in the face of Fanshawe's top scorer, Chavaun Miller-Bennett, who had one point – just one off a foul shot - in the first three quarters and finished with nine.

"Defensively, this may have been my best game," said a humble Cadougan, a team MVP in high school last year at Toronto's Senator O'Connor. "Covered (Miller-Bennett) pretty well, but I'm upset I let him get by me a bit in the fourth quarter. We won and that's what counts."

For George Brown, the victory was big since Fanshawe eliminated the Huskies 77-49 in the OCAA playoff qualifiers last year. Earlier this year, Fanshawe beat George Brown 81-65 at the Stewart Tip-Off Tourney in Oshawa. Then, at the George Brown Husky Tourney, Fanshawe beat the Huskies 85-66 for the title.

With the Huskies 0-2, no strikeout pitch from Fanshawe this time.

"He did his job very well – harassed (Miller-Bennett) a lot and I could see it," said Smith. "He's become the heart and soul of our defence, set the tempo and grit for the team and he followed my advice playing aggressively. All that as a rookie in a playoff game."

George Brown led 21-14 after the opening quarter, 41-25 at halftime and 63-42 after three quarters. Then, the Huskies went for a deep snooze watching a 28-point lead dissolve in the final 10 minutes.

Cadougan got back on track and Vadim Halimov, OCAA Player of the Year and top scorer in the game with 29 points, crushed a Fanshawe rally and popped the Falcons balloon with a three-point bucket, with 1:36 left in the fourth, that gave George Brown a 75-63 lead.

Dejazmatch James, George Brown's second leading scorer this season, had 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Curtis Baanee added a dozen points. George Brown had the edge in free throws (20-11) and points off turnovers (31-11). In the first half, Fanshawe had 16 turnovers and George Brown scored 17 points. - DG