The OUA East CIS/U Sports Men’s Basketball “Road to the Final 8” starts tonight with two Quarter-Final games. Below is a closer look at the #5 Toronto Blues who travel to Sudbury for a tough match-up against the #4 Laurentian Voyageurs.
#5 Toronto Blues – (OUA 10-12, Overall 16-19)
#4 Laurentian Voyageurs – (OUA 11-11, Overall 18-16)
2011-12 Head-to-Head: Tied 1-1
Toronto Blues, W 104-84,
Laurentian Voyageurs, W 83-77
How They Stack-Up
The Varsity Blues are peeking at the right time with victories in three-of their last five contest after a season high five-game losing streak. Laurentian has been a middle of the table team and enters their first home playoff game in nine years on a two winners of nine of their last 12 games. Both teams are capable of putting up plenty of points with the Blues averaging 78 points and the Voyageurs at 83.6.
BasketballBuzz CIS/U Sports Top 25 Weekly Power Rankings
Toronto Blues:
19, 17, 18, NR, 24, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR, 24, 24, 24
Laurentian Voyageurs:
13, 13, 19, 23, 23, 24, 21, 21, 18, 15, 21, 21, 21 21
Signature victories:
Toronto Blues
McMaster Marauders, Windsor Lancers, Ottawa Gee-Gees
Laurentian Voyageurs
UQAM Citadins, Cape Breton, Acadia Axemen
Keys To Victory:
Toronto Blues: The Blues will need to play a full 40-minutes and will need to show poise down the stretch in a hostile environment. Laurentian has outscored Toronto 102-88 in the second-half of their two meetings.
Laurentian Voyageurs: Interior defense and foul trouble. Toronto has two senior forwards who are not afraid to bang down-low and will box out and to avoid needless fouls to their thin front court.
Who’s Buzzing
Toronto Blues: Alex Hill, a former Cornell Big Red (NCAA D1) transfer is a major part of the Varsity Blues success and has been outstanding in his last five games with 23 points per game.
Laurentian Voyageurs: Manny Pasquale in the nations leading scorer at 26.4 points per game poured in seven games of 30-plus points in the second-half of the year.
