OCAA Men’s Basketball week in review – Week 1

After what has seemed like an eternity of preseason tournaments and scrimmages, the Ontario college basketball season has finally arrived!

After wrapping up the first week of action in OCAA men’s basketball, it’s time to find out which colleges around the GTA kicked off their first week of the season in the right direction, and which ones have tripped up out of the starting gate.

Sheridan College

Forward Adam Elhereich drives to the hoop against Niagara in a 95-84 win last week. (Photo: Mikhail Heller/Getty)

The Bruins kicked off their 2014-2015 campaign on October 21 with a promising 95-84 win over Niagara before falling in a 92-82 shocker to London’s Fanshawe College on October 25.

The defending OCAA champions responded by humiliating the Sault College Cougars in two straight games by scores of 105-47 and 106-68 over this past weekend, giving them a 3-1 record through the first week of the season.

Leading the way in scoring so far this season has been Jamal Pryce with 15.8 ppg and Brian Owusu with 15.0 ppg.

Pryce is also currently leading the OCAA in assists through the first week with 5.2 per game.

Sheridan’s next game will be November 11 versus Hamilton’s Mohawk College.

Humber College

Humber’s Tyrone Dickson battles for a rebound over Cambrian’s Anton Olufayo in a 93-67 win at the nest in Rexdale on November 1st. (Photo: Willy Phan/Getty)

As expected, Humber has yet to feel a bump in the road so far this season, starting 4-0 with wins over Mohawk and Redeemer, before sweeping Sudbury’s Cambrian College in back-to-back games over the weekend.

How dominant have they been so far? The Hawks smallest margin of victory came in their first game against Mohawk on October 23, by a score of 97-77.

Guard Kenny Ejim has been leading the attack so far with 16 points per game while also averaging an impressive 7 rebounds per game.

The Etobicoke based college will take on Windsor’s St. Clair college this Saturday. Barring any major upsets, the Hawks will have to wait until November 15 for a true test when their divisional rival, the Sheridan Bruins come to town.

Should be one hell of a match!

Seneca College

Seneca will be needing a big season from veteran Felix Adjei if they hope to turn around their slow start (Armando Villavona/Getty Images)

The Scarborough based Seneca Sting have not started the season most would have hoped or expected, falling to 1-2 after week one.

However, this team could very easily be 3-0 right now.

Both of the Sting’s losses came by three points, 81-78 to Toronto east side rival Goerge Brown, and 68-65 to Ottawa-based Algonquin College.

Seneca was not deterred following those two heart breakers, and responded well with a 79-56 win over Ottawa’s La Cite College over the weekend.

Seneca still has a chance to put this week behind them and move forward in an eastern division that always seems to be a bit more wide open, compared to a west division that is usually dominated by Humber and Sheridan year-to-year.

If Seneca can continue to get the type of scoring production they have been getting from Felix Adjei (17.7 ppg), they might just have a chance at a playoff push.

Seneca will be looking to stay the course this week with two games on the docket. First this Friday against Bellville’s Loyalist College (1-2), and Saturday against Kingston’s St. Lawrence College (1-2).

George Brown College

Brandon Bailey rises to the rim for a layup over a St. Lawrence defender last season. The Huskies are off to a promising 3-0 start this season. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Huskies picked up right where they left off from a successful 2013-2014 campaign with three straight wins over Seneca, Algonquin, and La Cite.

After gutting out a close 81-78 win over Seneca, they would prove to be too much for their next two opponents, winning by 23 and 20 points respectively.

Their first true test will likely come December 3 against the Durham Lords (3-0), but a lot can change before then, as Scarborough’s Centennial College awaits them on November 21.

With Akai Netty leading the way with 17.3 points per game, the next month and a half will show where the Huskies truly stand in the OCAA East division this year.

Centennial College

The Colts have kicked off their year 2-0. How long they can remain undefeated remains to be seen. (photo: Getty Images)

Despite a 2-0 start, not much can be taken yet from the Centennial Colts before they face some quality opponents.

Granted, a 104-92 win over Peterborough’s Fleming College was a high-paced game to remember. However, the fact that Centennial chose to simply out-gun their opponent, rather than actually defend, will be a cause for concern for coach Jim Barclay.

Barclay will be up to the task though, as his experience from his days coaching at storied Pickering high school with players such as San Antonio Spurs guard Corey Joseph, should prove vital to this class of raw, but gifted players.

Kendall Wilson and Ian Francis have done the heavy lifting offensively so far, averaging 20 and 18.5 points per game respectively.

This a very athletically gifted team that is sure to cause headaches for OCAA defences moving forward, starting with Orangville’s Georgian College tonight at 8 pm.

Be sure to check back next week with more updates on OCAA men’s basketball!

And be sure to follow this link for all OCAA games in their entirety.