Buzzer-beater lifts Queen’s Men’s Basketball to OUA title over the Brock Badgers
March 6, 2024
By: Ian Donaldson
The last time Queen’s Men’s Basketball won an OUA championship, a dozen eggs cost 55 cents, Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” was top of the charts, and the Detroit Lions were NFL champions. Needless to say, the world was a much different place the last time the Gaels achieved provincial glory in men’s basketball.
Going into Saturday’s Wilson Cup game between the Queen’s Gaels and Brock Badgers, expectations were high as Queen’s looked to write a new legacy in front a sold-out home court at the ARC.
The road to the finals hadn’t been an easy path for either team, but both teams came into the final in drastically different ways. The Brock Badgers were 11-11 in the regular season, barely scraping into the playoffs as a 10 seed and massive underdog going into their first-round matchup against the Carleton Ravens. A 1-point regulation win over Carleton was followed by an absurd 81-58 blowout of the 2-seed Ottawa Gee-Gees, before surviving a hotly contested game against Western to punch their ticket to the final.
On the other side of the bracket, 1-seed Queen’s enjoyed a first round bye before taking on a solid McMaster Marauders outfit, narrowly coming out on top 85-79. The semi-final against the University of Toronto saw a double-OT thriller which required a heroic 39-point effort from Queen’s guard Luka Syllas to see the Gaels through to the finals.
The script was written—10 seed Brock versus 1 seed Queen’s for the OUA championship. As tip-off approached, the atmosphere at the ARC was like something out of a European soccer stadium, with chants thundering around the stands and the beating of pots and pans.
Queen’s would need every bit of the home crowd support as Brock came out hot, quickly building a sizeable early lead thanks to lights-out three point shooting from Jevon Brown and Kevaughn Ellis. Queen’s would find some life through Kingston native and Lasalle Secondary
School product Cole Syllas, but the Gaels’ struggle with turnovers and rebounds kept scores at a distance for much of the first half. At the half, Queen’s were down 38-47.
Going into the second half, Queen’s would need a hot start if they wanted to regain a foothold in the game. A huge scoring run by Queen’s courtesy of Cole and Luka Syllas would see the deficit quickly narrow. Back-to-back threes by Mikey Kelvin II would bring the crowd to its feet, but by the end of the 3 rd quarter the score was still in Brock’s favour 58-62.
In the fourth quarter, the tension was palpable—each possession felt like it had implications to make or break the game for either team. A 3 pointer by Queen’s forward Isaac Krueger with 3:30 left on the game clock tied the game at 73-73. With Queen’s yet to lead the game at any stage, a first opportunity to lead came from a Brock foul on Cole Syllas. Cole, who seemed incapable of missing all night, missed both attempts from the line. Brock’s Andrew McKenna would then sink a dagger of a 3 pointer at the other end to silence the home crowd. With the score 73-76 Brock with a minute left, Queen’s Mikey Kelvin II responded with the shot of his life to tie the scores
once again.
Down the other end, Brock would miss their opportunity to ice the game—Isaac Krueger collecting a crucially important rebound to move Queen’s back up the court with 16 seconds to play. With the ball in Cole Syllas’ hands, time seemed to move into slow motion. From the top of the ARC, Cole would bank a step back three-pointer off the backboard and in. Buzzer. Game. Queen’s Men’s Basketball were OUA champions for the first time since 1956-57!
“It’s one of those shots you dream of,” hometown hero Cole Syllas told CFRC’s Zayden Vergara post-game. “As a kid from Kingston, coming to games, seeing the struggles Queen’s has had over the years… finally getting gold… it’s pretty incredible.”
Queen’s will look to add more hardware to their growing collection this week as they head to Quebec City for the USPORTS national tournament as the 2 seed. There, the Gaels will take on the University of Winnipeg Wesmen in a quarterfinal matchup on Friday, March 8 at 3PM ET.