The York University Lions men's basketball team suffered a tough loss to the Ryerson Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Wednesday night, falling by a score of 83-70.
 
A furious rally in the second half cut an 18-point deficit to just one with 6:24 remaining in the game, but the Rams outscored the Lions 17-5 down the stretch to record the victory.
 
The Rams established a big lead in the first quarter that proved to be a serious challenge for the Lions to come back from. At the end of the first, the Lions trailed 18-7.
 
The Lions and Rams added the same number of points in the second quarter, but unfortunately this didn't help the Lions to close the gap and the score was 39-28 for the home team heading into the halftime break. The highlight of the first half came in the final minutes of the second quarter, when third-year forward Brandon Ramirez hit three straight three-pointers to cut a 15-point deficit to just six.
 
The Lions continued to play better in the third quarter and outscored the Rams 26-24, but the Lions were still on the wrong side of the scoreboard at 63-54.
 
An exciting 11-3 run by the Lions made the score 66-65 and the visitors appeared to be poised for an upset, but the Rams quickly turned the momentum and stepped up their defensive game and cruised to the end.
 
Ramirez scored the most points for the Lions with 21, while Ricky Hudson led in rebounds with 10. For the Rams, Manny Diressa dominated the scoring and rebounds with an impressive 50 points and 15 rebounds, including netting 10 three-pointers.
 
This loss brings the Lions' regular season record to 2-13, and the Rams improved to 10-5.
 
The Lions head back downtown on Friday, this time to take on the other Toronto team – the Varsity Blues. Tip-off for this game is at 8pm. The Lions will be back in action on the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 8pm when they host the Nipissing Lakers.