GEORGIAN GRIZZLIES
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The Georgian Grizzlies men’s and women’s basketball teams opened their 2019-20 OCAA regular season schedules on Friday night when they travelled to take on the Durham Lords in Oshawa.
It was a fantastic start to the season for the men’s team.
In a tight back-and-forth game, the Grizzlies and Lords had an incredible 19 lead changes between the two rivals.
Georgian used some clutch scoring in the second half, outscoring Durham 56-45, which led to a 93-85 Grizzlies victory.
The Grizzlies had a pair of veterans step up big with Tyler Vanessen (Whitby) scoring a team high 25 points while Jaan Bukhari (Newmarket) had a 21 point game.
Georgian’s bench had a strong night outscoring the Lords 29-17 led by Samuel Odzenma (Mississauga) who had 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Grizzlies are now 1-0 to start the season and they recorded their first win at Durham since Nov. 21, 2014.
In the women’s game, it was a shorthanded Grizzlies team that came out on the losing end.
Missing a majority of their returning veterans, the Grizzlies battled hard but were unable to match the Lords high powered offence on this night falling 73-29 in their first game of the season.
Katie Murray (Lucknow) had seven points and 12 rebounds in the contest while teammate Tiarra Robinson (Barrie) also had seven points off the bench for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies will be back on the road next weekend when they travel to take on the Loyalist Lancers on Oct. 25 in Belleville before heading east on the 401 to face the St. Lawrence Vikings on Saturday, Oct. 26 in Kingston.
Georgian’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will play their home openers on Friday, Oct. 1 when they host the Algonquin Thunder at the Georgian Athletic Centre in Barrie.
The women’s game gets underway at 6 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 8 p.m. Tickets to the double-header are available at the doors for $5. If you can’t attend the game, you can watch the livestream broadcast by visiting GeorgianGrizzlies.ca/WatchLive.
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