The York University Lions men’s basketball team recorded a major upset on Friday night by knocking off the No. 1 nationally ranked Carleton Ravens 80-74 at theTait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions took the lead four minutes into the first quarter and never looked back. The victory, their fourth of the season, is arguably the biggest upset of the season as the Ravens have established themselves as the pre-eminent Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) basketball team, winning six of the last seven national championships and five of the last seven Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships. They had lost only one game this season before falling to the Lions.
Rookie Dejan Kravic made a strong impression as he led all players with 22 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks to be named York’s male athlete of the week. He also contributed 14 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block in an 85-71 loss to the No. 6 nationally ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees the following night.
Right: Dejan Kravic
Also having a successful weekend was the men’s swimming team, which equalled its performance from last year with an eighth-place finish in the OUA championships. The Lions combined for nine top-10 finishes at the meet.
Leading the way was sophomore Viktor Verblac, who had three individual results of ninth or better and was also on two relay teams that ended up in the top 10. His best result was a sixth-place showing in the 200-metre freestyle and he added to that an eighth-place in the 200-metre individual medley and ninth in the 400-metre freestyle.
Teammate Adam Vieira also had a successful individual meet. He posted his best-ever finish at the OUA championships with a seventh-place showing in the 400-metre individual medley and was eighth in the 1500-metre freestyle.
The track & field team hosted the York Open at the Toronto Track & Field Centre this weekend and recorded 18 top-five finishes. Elizabeth Petrov threw a pair of personal bests in the shot put and weight throw to win gold and silver medals, respectively, and was named York’s female athlete of the week. Also winning individual gold medals were Tyrone Halstead (60 metres), Dontae Richards-Kwok (300 metres), Kristin Obrochta (weight throw) and Chris Theriau (60 metre hurdles), while the men’s 4-by-200 metre and 4-by-800 metre relay teams were victorious.
The women’s hockey team went 1-1 on the weekend with a 3-1 victory over the Waterloo Warriors and an 8-3 loss to the undefeated and No. 2 nationally ranked Laurier Golden Hawks. Despite the defeat, the three goals the Lions got past goaltender Liz Knox were the most any team has managed this season. The game was a close contest through two periods before a flurry of goals by the Golden Hawks in the final frame gave them the convincing win.
The men’s hockey team picked up a point with a 2-1 overtime loss to the No. 10 nationally ranked Waterloo Warriors and then suffered a 7-5 loss to the Guelph Gryphons this weekend. In the contest against Guelph, the Lions nearly erased a five-goal deficit, storming back in the third period after being down 6-1 to make it a 6-5 game, but they couldn’t close the gap far enough to send the game to overtime.
The men’s and women’s volleyball teams and women’s basketball team were all swept in their weekend contests. The women’s volleyball team lost a pair of tight matches, falling 3-2 to Ottawa on the road and 3-1 to Ryerson at home. The men’s volleyball team continued its streak of five-set matches against the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Lions’ 3-2 loss to Laurier marked the fourth time this season the two teams have played to five sets, with the Golden Hawks winning three of them. The Lions also dropped a 3-0 decision to the Waterloo Warriors. Finally, the women’s basketball team was defeated 84-53 by No. 10 nationally-ranked Carleton and 68-60 by Ottawa.
Submitted by Alyson Fisher, sport & recreation information officer with Sport York