They came to say goodbye to the Mitchell Athletics Centre on Saturday, but it turns out that final goodbye won’t happen until Wednesday.
A large crowd was on hand for the final games to be played in the University of Guelph gym as the Gryphons hosted the Brock Badgers in the final game of the OUA regular season. The crowd included many former alumni of the basketball program.
But the Gryphon women beat the Badgers and earned the right to play them on home court Wednesday in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Mitchell Athletics Centre is slated to close at the end of the year as team’s move into the new gym being built next door for next season.
The Gryphon men lost a close one to Brock and in doing so were eliminated from the playoffs.
The Gryphon men fell 65-62 to the Badgers and their 9-10 regular season mark left them on the outside of the playoff picture.
Guelph led by three points with about five minutes left to play but couldn’t hold on.
Jonathan Wallace led the Gryphs with 14 points. Boers had 13.
Graduating players Dana VanBalkom, with 14 points, and Kate MacTavish, with 13, led the way for the women as they downed the Brock Badgers 57-48 in front of the biggest crowd the Mitchell Athletics Centre has seen for OUA basketball in quite some time.
MacTavish also had 13 defensive rebounds and Bridget Atkinson also hit double figures with 12 points.
