Brock Badgers down Rams 78–68 in Preseason Action

This was the sight the last time these two teams hooked up, and props to Brock TV for broadcasting the preseason affair tonight as well as the Brock fans for selling out a Friday night in October. Here are some thoughts:

1.In what was a very sloppy first quarter on both ends, Adam Voll’s defence stood out. He was able to protect the rim and gobble up rebounds, while moving quick enough to contest looks from Dani Elgadi on the perimeter.

2. Keevon Small was everywhere in the 2nd quarter during the Rams 12–4 run to open the period. He ran from the weakside corner for a tip in, and then followed it up with a 3 ball from the top of the arc to kickstart the run and was relentless in pressure on Tyler Brown in the backcourt off loose ball scrambles. Considering Brock always wanted Small, it had to be just a bit sweeter than usual for the Rams coaching staff seeing him play so well against his former suitor.

3. Mo Ismail is going to be a huge addition to this Brock team off the bench. Last season the Badgers only went 8 deep at maximum, and the fatigue level of the starters cost them a lot of tight games going down the stretch. Adding Ismail who brings length, a 3&D skill set off the bench, as well as that championship pedigree from the Gee-Gees program will pay dividends in their run at a top 4 OUA seed.

4. The third quarter was an absolute onslaught from the Badgers offence, who continued to exploit the Rams lack of contests on the three point line, pushing their lead to 60–46 going into the 4th quarter.

5. Roshane Roberts was first off the bench in the 4th and ignited the Rams on both ends after a steal and score. The Rams tightened up their half court defence and started converting on the other end to pull within 5, making it 67–62 Badgers with 4 minutes to go, prompting a timeout from Charles Kissi.

6. Following the timeout, the Badgers went back to Tyler Brown (who was named player of the game) who got a big bucket, and the Rams weren’t able to catch up playing the foul game as they fell by 10.

7. The Rams were right there in the final minutes, but an uncharacteristic amount of missed shots led to all the chances for Brock to seal the deal. Moving on this weekend, look for Coach Rana to make the adjustments on the defensive end, as the Rams were gashed by penetration which led to a myriad of open looks from 3 point range.