UOttawa’s L’Africain conducts a symphony
When uOttawa point guard Mike L’Africain keeps his focus, he’s like a conductor on the floor, drawing the best from his teammates, leaving foes paralyzed as the Gee- Gees float past for uncontested buckets, almost as if defenders are mesmerized by a cantata lingering long after the symphony’s last note sounded.
L’Africain was spellbinding in the first half of top-ranked uOttawa’s 85-49 dusting of Algoma on Saturday at Montpetit Hall.
He hit four treys, nabbed three boards and along with fellow guard Mehdi Tihani, completely shut down the Thunderbirds’ dynamic backcourt duo of Andre Barber and Sean Clendinning as the Gee- Gees built a 51-17 lead.
But those were incidental to the tour de force he delivered with respect to ball distribution and decision-making. There was perhaps one possession on which he faltered, coughing up the ball on an overly-creative pass in which he forced a pass to a cutting teammate.
With the outcome sealed, L’Africain saw limited minutes in the second half, in which the GeeGees struggled early against an Algoma zone, but maintained their defensive intensity and received stellar performances in the post from Nathan McCarthy, Brody Maracle and Noel Jones while mopping up the Thunderbirds and improving their Ontario University Athletics record to 5-0.
L’Africain graded his performance as a “C” because of secondhalf lapses, but gave his teammates an “A” for their defensive intensity. Coach James Derouin concurred, saying it may have been the GeeGees best defensive performance of the season. “I thought we chased. I thought we competed. Our pursuit was very, very good. We didn’t give them any space.”
Caleb Agada led uOttawa with 18. L’Africain added 16 and Jones 10. Brett Zufelt paced 0-6 Algoma with 10.
Second-ranked Carleton also improved to 5-0 by outlasting Algoma 75-51. The Ravens were sloppy and sluggish as Algoma built a 19-13 lead. But Kaza Kajami-Keane ignited the offence with a mid-range jumper, a driving layup and a trio of treys as the Ravens took a 38-30 lead at the half.
The lethargy returned as Algoma rallied to within 52-49 on aggressive takes by Clendinning, Zufelt and Barber before Carleton closed out the affair with a 23-2 run driven largely by the defensive prowess of Mitchell Wood, the boardwork of Wood and Cameron Smythe, and savvy feeds from Kajami-Keane to Smythe in the low post.
The Ravens outrebounded Algoma 49-23, which was fortunate, as coach Rob Smart noted. “If you can’t take care of the ball or shoot it, you better be able to rebound.”
“They punched us quick and we had to figure out a way to get back up and keep fighting,” said KajamiKeane.
Thunderbirds coach Thomas Cory said a failure to box-out on the boards down the stretch undid his troops. “For three quarters, I thought we were really good. We were right there. We competed.”
Guillaume Payen-Boucard paced Carleton with 16. Kajami-Keane added 15 and Smythe 10. Clendinning led Algoma with 13.
In women’s play, 5-0 uOttawa pounded 0-6 Algoma 74-23 after breaking to a 29-1 lead on aggressive baseline drives by Catherine Traer and savvy post moves from rookie Anne Wagar. The Gee- Gees post defence, particularly that of Katherine Lemoine, left Algoma at a complete loss, while the massive lead allowed coach Andy Sparks to explore the depths and dimensions of his bench.
“I can’t remember the last time we won by 50. It was fun,” noted Traer, who scored 21. Wagar added 14.
Carleton improved to 3-2 by dusting Algoma 67-29. The Ravens struggled in their halfcourt sets, got little production at the guard spots other than reserve Cynthia Dupont-Letourneau’s 12 points and often appeared indecisive.