The York University Lions men's basketball team came oh-so-close to a victory in the nation's capital on Friday night, falling 80-76 to the powerhouse Ottawa Gee-Gees at Montpetit Hall.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The Lions stunned the Gee-Gees out of the gate, outscoring them 20-13 to take an early lead after the first quarter.
• Neither team could find the bottom of the net in the second. When it was over, the Gee-Gees had cut into the lead by one point, outscoring the Lions 12-11 to trail 31-25.
• The third quarter was all Ottawa as the Gee-Gees outscored the Lions 32-19 to turn a halftime deficit into a 57-50 advantage.
• The Lions scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to retake the lead. They continued to shoot well in the frame and built a six-point lead with four minutes left. But the Gee-Gees chipped away again with 2:30 left. A three-pointer by Dimanochie pulled the teams level at 75-75 with 44 seconds remaining but some strong free-throw shooting on Ottawa's part pushed them ahead for good.

 
NOTABLE NUMBERS
 

• Four of the five Lions starters hit double digits in scoring. Somto Dimanochie led the way with 23 points, as well as seven rebounds, one block and one steal. Tyler Pryce scored 20 points and had eight rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. Prince Kamunga finished with 14 points and Warsame Mohamed had 12.
• Yacine Loe led all Lions with 10 rebounds.
• The Lions shot 41.2 percent from the floor, better than Ottawa's 36.1%.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
 
The Lions will battle the Gee-Gees again on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa, with tip-off set for 5pm.