The Windsor Lancer men's basketball team suffered a 79-74 season-ending loss after enduring a hard-fought semi-final battle with the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Wednesday night at Montpetit Hall in Ottawa. 
 
With the poignant road defeat, the Lancer season comes to an end with them now being officially eliminated from Wilson Cup playoff contention after competing in this year's OUA Final Four. 
 
STATS
Najee Brown-Henderson led the way for the Lancers offensively with 29 points including going 5-12 from the three-point territory along with also adding 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals within his impressive individual effort in the tough season-ending loss. 
 
Thomas Kennedy defensively led the charge gripping down 18 rebounds (13 of which were defensive) and notching 17 points into the hoop to earn a double-double on the score sheet and help keep the score close throughout. 
 
Meanwhile Xavier Ochu also had a great solo all-around performance putting up 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in the defeat outing against the Gee-Gees.
 
The Gee-Gees were led to the finals by the tandem of Kevin Otoo and Dragan Stajic.  Otoo led the scoring charge for Ottawa with 18 points while Stajic followed up 17 points of his own to help them advance past the Lancers and now get ready to play on into the OUA Wilson Cup Finals. 
 
GAME FLOW
In the first quarter, Windsor set the tone holding the lead throughout the duration of the first frame.  Ochu became the offensive leader for the Lancers tallying 9 points in the quarter while Brown-Henderson had 6 points which allowed them to close out the first up by a slim margin of 19-16.
 
The second quarter saw Yohann Sam come in off the bench and chip in with 7 points of his own to keep things interesting despite the Gee-Gees hanging around outscoring Windsor 24-21 in the quarter and challenging the Lancers throughout during part two of the first half of play. 
 
The half ended stalemated heading into halftime with both teams tied up at 40-40 which was score remained on the board in the first bit of second half of play heading into the third quarter.
 
The third saw Ottawa's offense progress further along with them able to net 23 more points towards their total as opposed to the Lancers 13 new points made.  The Gee-Gees came out ahead of the third frame up 63-53 going into the final quarter of regulation play.
 
Fourth quarter action was close throughout with the Lancers determined not to go home without a fight.  Even though Ottawa held a 12-point cushion over Windsor, that did not deter the blue and gold's fighting spirit which was able to storm back and erase such a deficit with some huge three-point shots made by Brown-Henderson to keep pressure on the hosts.
 
Windsor's offense would generate 21 points as opposed to Ottawa's 16 but the garnet and grey continued to be in control down the stretch despite Windsor's valiant efforts.
 
With the clock winding down in the dying seconds of regulation time and the Lancers down 77-74 coming out of their final timeout, a late-game heroic steal by the Gee-Gees all but sealed the deal and the dunk that followed pierced the hearts of the Lancer family which polished off the scoreboard 79-74 and clinched the Gee-Gees ticket to the Wilson Cup finals. 
 
UP NEXT
With the heartbreaking loss, this ends the Lancers 2022-23 season and knocks them out of the hunt for this year's Wilson Cup. The team will now head into their off-season to prepare for the 2023-24 season slated to begin later this fall.  The Windsor Lancers would like to sincerely thank the entire Lancer family for their continued ongoing support of the men's basketball program and all blue and gold athletics.