LIONS UPSET VARSITY BLUES, ADVANCE TO OUA QUARTER-FINALS

The magical run at the end of head coach Bob Bain's final season with the York men's basketball team continued on Wednesday (Feb. 24) as the Lions upset cross-town rivals the Toronto Varsity Blues 86-79 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.

A 21-3 run to open the game propelled the visiting Lions, the sixth seed in the OUA East, to victory over the third-seeded Varsity Blues in what turned out to be a fight to the finish in a renewed city rivalry.

Lions second-year guard David Tyndale (Mississauga, Ont.) knocked down a game-high 25 points, including two huge jumpers from downtown in the final three minutes to give his squad a six-point cushion that it held until the final buzzer.

York now moves on to face the No. 2 nationally-ranked Carleton Ravens, the OUA East's top seed, this Saturday (Feb. 27) in Ottawa, while the Blues season comes to an abrupt end. The Queen's Gaels held off the Ryerson Rams in the other divisional playoff match-up and will also travel to Ottawa to take on the No. 5 Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Within a blink of an eye in the opening quarter, the visiting Lions stunned the boisterous Toronto crowd with a quick 9-0 run. Four different Lions had scored before Blues Rob Paris (St. Catharines, Ont.) notched Toronto's first three points of the game. 

Led by a four-for-four first-quarter performance from freshman forward Dejan Kravic (London, Ont.), the Lions extended that lead to 18 points with four minutes remaining.

Fifth-year veteran Pat Sewell (London, Ont.) took matters into his own hands, making a monstrous block at one end and then finishing things off with a three at the other. That burst of energy ignited the Blues, who went on to outscore York 11-3 over the last three minutes of the opening quarter.

After hitting only 28 per cent of its shots in the first 10 minutes, Toronto's cold shooting started to heat up. They shot 38 per cent in the second quarter and outscored the young Lions team 18-12 to pull within four points (36-32) at the half.

The Blues stayed on track after the break, hitting 47 per cent of their attempts on 9-of-19 shooting. Nick Magalas (Burlington, Ont.) found his touch and knocked down six of his 14 points in the third, while Drazen Glisic (Sarajevo, BIH) added five points and two big offensive boards as the Varsity Blues found themselves down by only one heading into the final frame.

The fourth quarter would be an epic battle. Blues fifth-year senior Nick Snow (London, Ont.) laid it all on the line in his final collegiate game. In the intense back and forth affair, Snow tallied 11 points in 10 minutes and hit a big three-point shot, one of two on the season, to pull his troops to within three with 2:47 left in regulation. Tyndale would answer moments later with his fifth trey of the game, pushing the lead back to six and out of the reach for the Blue and White.

For the Lions, all five starters hit double digits. In addition to Tyndale's 25, Kravic had 17 and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore John Lafontaine (Whitby, Ont.) and rookie Ostap Choliy (Oakville, Ont.) each knocked down 14 and veteran forward Stefan Haynes (North York, Ont.) added 12 in the win.

All four Varsity Blues graduating seniors hit double figures in their final game with the team. Snow had team-high 21 points and six rebounds, five on the offensive end. Magalas tallied 14 points and a team-high eight boards, while Sewell and Paris had 12 points apiece.

The Blues took the regular-season series 2-0 with wins at York on Jan. 23 and again at home on Feb. 12. Since their first playoff meeting in 1981, Toronto holds a slight 6-5 edge over their cross-town rivals. However, the Lions have taken the last two playoff contests (2004, 2010).

With files from Toronto Varsity Blues sport information