Oshawa, ON- The OCAA’s second seeded teams, the Humber Hawks and George Brown Huskies faced off in the Gold Medal game where the Hawks took a convincing 77-45 win over the Huskies to win their second title in three years on Sunday at the Durham Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

The Hawks were rolling from tip-off, starting the game on a 7-0 run propelled by their stellar defense. Huskies’ junior Jacob Masters took control of Huskies offense, getting them started with a corner three and then adding a steal and assist in the next play, propelling the Huskies on their own 6-0 run. They took the lead at 8-7, which would be their only lead of the game. Both teams struggled to shoot the three-ball well, 4-of-30 for the Huskies and 6-of-27 for the Hawks. Despite the low field goal percentages, the Huskies had no response for the Hawks’ hands-on defense and the team that scored 30 points in one quarter in the qualifying game, was held to only 45 points throughout the game, shooting 42/22/69 as a team.

Humber quickly realized the three-ball was not falling and switched up their gameplan, getting to the rim consistently and taking mid-range spot ups. While the George Brown stuck to their pick-and-roll game and spotting up for the three, Humber cut to the basket (21 cuts to basket as opposed to Huskies’ 3), setting secondary screens to get the right mismatch, and they shot 61% on 33 spot-ups as opposed to George Brown’s 38% on 29 spot-ups. The Huskies also struggled at the rim, going 9-of-23 compared to Humber’s 18-of-29 led by Jalen Menzies (180-PG-2000, college: Cent.Arizona) who had 14 points at the rim on 70% FG despite being the smallest player on the floor at 5’10”. His crafty finishes got him four and-one opportunities where he shot 75%.

The Hawks extended their lead to 35, their largest in the game with two minutes left in the fourth quarter and every player contributed to the win. Humber rookie Kwabena Antwi had an all-around game with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in addition to his seven points. He also sacrificed his 6’0” body on the defensive end, taking four charges against the tallest team in the OCAA. Senior Romeo Osas-Joshua was awarded with Player of the Game honors as one of the few players unaffected by the three-point plague. He scored eight points off the bench on 60/50/0 shooting splits and tallied two rebounds and two steals. Junior Kameron David and Sophomore Malik Grant were named playoff all-stars as they combined for 35 points, 25 rebounds, 19 assists and 10 steals in the two-game tournament.

George Brown’s player of the game was awarded to Jacob Masters who finished with a team high eight points, three rebounds and two steals. Guards Derrick Taylor and bench spark Phillip Da had an impactful game for George Brown, combining for 11 points, 12 rebounds and three assists but playoff All-stars were awarded to 6’6” senior Christian Tabiri and Masters. In his two games, Christian Tabiri proved his impact at the rim with six rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block to add to his 18 points while Masters showed his importance as an offensive navigator and spark.

The Championship MVP was awarded to none other than Jalen Menzies, who proved his star quality throughout the OCAA season. The transfer from Holland College made an immediate impact on and off-the court, becoming the 15th player ever to score 300 points in a single OCAA season, averaging 20.9 points in his 20 games, finishing the season with 419 points. He also led the OCAA in steals with 67 steals and placed fourth in scoring across the league. The former NJCAA D1 player from Central Arizona college will return to Humber for another season, ready to compete for back-to-back championships.

With this win, the Hawks qualify for the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Nationals, hosted by Mount Allison University in New Brunswick from March 13-16.

This article was written by Ruhyi Ratansi, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball.

All-Tournament MVP: Jalen Menzies (5'11''-PG-2000) of Humber
Player of the Year: Chad Vincent-Simon (6'4''-F) of St.Clair
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Loyuk (6'1''-G) of St.Clair
Coach of the Year: Omar Miles of Humber

All-OCAA 1st Team 2024

Masters

Menzies

Tabiri

Grant

David

All-Tournament Team
Jacob Masters (6'3''-G) of George Brown
Jalen Menzies (5'11''-PG-2000) of Humber
Christian Tabiri (6'6''-F) of George Brown
Malik Grant (6'6''-PF) of Humber
Kameron David (6'0''-PG) of Humber

Player of the Year: O'Shane Taylor-Douglas (6'3''-G) of Durham
Defensive Player of the Year: O'Shane Taylor-Douglas (6'3''-G) of Durham
Rookie of the Year: Tavonn Mars-Buckley of Centennial
Sixth Man of the Year: Jeremiah Brown (6'6''-F) of George Brown
Coach of the Year: Desmond Rowley of Durham

All-OCAA East Division First Team 2024

Goulbourne

Jack

Ko

Tabiri

Taylor-Douglas

First Team
Deandre Goulbourne (6'6''-F) of Centennial
Jayden Jack (5'10''-PG) of Loyalist
Calvin Ko (6'2''-G) of Seneca
Christian Tabiri (6'6''-F) of George Brown
O'Shane Taylor-Douglas (6'3''-G) of Durham

Second Team
Jeremiah Brown (6'6''-F) of George Brown
Nelson Cilien of La Cite
Tavonn Mars-Buckley of Centennial
Jacob Masters (6'3''-G) of George Brown
Mark Stoop (6'6''-F) of Durham
All-Rookie Team
Alex Arsenault (6'1''-F) of Loyalist
Jasean Elliott (6'3''-G) of Durham
Rudy Fakih (6'1''-G) of Durham
Ricardo Jeanty of La Cite
Tavonn Mars-Buckley of Centennial

Player of the Year: Chad Vincent-Simon (6'4''-F) of St.Clair
Defensive Player of the Year: Terence Williams (6'2''-G) of Fanshawe
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Loyuk (6'1''-G) of St.Clair
Sixth Man of the Year: Kyle Brown-Fazekas (5'11''-PG) of Humber
Coach of the Year: Omar Miles of Humber

All-OCAA West Division First Team 2024

Menzies

Mercury

Thomas

Vincent-Simon

Whalen

First Team
Jalen Menzies (5'11''-PG-2000) of Humber
Jerry Mercury (6'4''-F) of Mohawk
JK Thomas (5'8''-G) of Lambton
Chad Vincent-Simon (6'4''-F) of St.Clair
Aidan Whalen (6'5''-F) of Fanshawe

Second Team
Iverson Chong (5'11''-PG) of Mohawk
Travis Clouden (PG) of Sheridan
Jesiah Deerr (6'3''-G) of St.Clair
Malik Grant (6'6''-PF) of Humber
Andrew Loyuk (6'1''-G) of St.Clair
Terence Williams (6'2''-G) of Fanshawe

All-Rookie Team
Kwabena Antwi (6'3''-PG) of Humber
Brandon Bogart (5'11''-PG) of Lambton
Iverson Chong (5'11''-PG) of Mohawk
Jeziyah Excell-Johnson (SG) of Sheridan
Andrew Loyuk (6'1''-G) of St.Clair