UBC loses overtime heartbreaker against Ryerson at CIS Final 8 Basketball Championships

UBC nearly pulled off a monumental upset on the first day of the CIS Final 8 Basketball Championships last night.

Playing in front of a raucous hometown crowd, on St. Patrick’s Day no less, the T-Birds jumped out to an early lead. Hitting a high percentage of jump shots, UBC led the Ryerson Rams 27-18 after the first quarter.

Arena starting to fill up at UBC for UBC vs Ryerson. Wonder what students did between class & game today? 🍻🍀 pic.twitter.com/IfgbWdLAxA

— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) March 18, 2016

Crazy P was on hand, helping an already excited crowd get that much louder.

https://twitter.com/cbccameraPete/status/710662377742577664

Jordan Jensen-Whyte led the way for the T-Birds, scoring 25 points, while David Wagner was a force inside, putting up 22 points. Adika Peter-Mcneilly had 25 points and collected 9 rebounds for the Rams.

The #8 seed Thunderbirds were in control of the lead for most of the game and looked poised to knock off the top seed in the tournament. During a timeout with 2 minutes to go and the T-Birds up by 7, fans were serenading the Rams with an “over-rated!” chant.

Whoops.

Shortly after, Jean-Victor Makuma took over the game for Ryerson and the Rams began to show why they’re the number one ranked team in the country.

Makuma scored 6 of his 19 points on the night in the final minute of the fourth quarter, including a 3 pointer with 29 seconds left to tie the game.

The game went into overtime and Ryerson never looked back, winning the game 109-101.

The game capped off a fun day of basketball at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Fans bringing the noise before tip-off. #CISFinal8 @ubctbirds @ryersonrams pic.twitter.com/iOPcMzYD7r

— Kamil Karamali CBC (@KamilKaramali) March 18, 2016

Aside from Ryerson; Calgary, Dalhousie, and Carleton also advanced and will play in the semi-finals on Saturday.

UBC will play McGill in the consolation round tonight at 7:00 pm. The Final goes on Sunday at 5:30 pm.