Ryerson Rams' Adika Peter-McNeilly, left, and Jean-Victor Mukama celebrate their win over the Windsor Lancers during second half CIS Final Eight basketball action in Toronto on Thursday, March 12, 2015.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
It took 53 years for the national university men's basketball championship to come to Toronto and the hometown Ryerson Rams did not want to ruin the festive atmosphere.
Playing in front of a rambunctious gathering of close to 4,000 supporters at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the host Rams came out flying and never let up on the accelerator, stunning the Windsor Lancers 82-68 on Thursday night.
As the Lancers were ranked No. 2 heading into the men's Final 8 Canadian Interuniversity Sport showdown and the Rams were No. 7, the opening-round outcome could be termed an upset.
But Ryerson's low ranking was more a byproduct of an antiquated seeding system than anything else.
Everybody knew coming into the tournament, including the Lancers, that the Rams are an elite outfit.
The Rams proved it last night in a battle of Ontario conference foes, setting a relentless pace from the opening tip that frazzled Windsor early and often.
A swarming Ryerson defence proved too much for the Lancers, who responded by hitting on just three of their 19 shots in the opening quarter, where the Rams assumed control with a 19-10 lead.
The Lancers were clearly thrown off their game and they could never respond. Windsor wound up only hitting on 31.6 per cent of their shots (26 of 71) in the game, compared with a 48.5 clip (32 of 70) for their opponents.
The Rams led 42-31 at the half and 65-44 heading into the fourth and were able to coast the rest of the way home.
For the Rams, once the ugly ducklings of Ontario University Athletics when it came to basketball, the win was a watershed moment.
In just their third trip onto the national stage, the victory marked the Rams' first win in the opening round of the single-elimination event.
"We needed this one to get that monkey off our back," said Jahmal Jones, Ryerson's slashing point guard who led the Rams with 20 points.
Khalid Abdel-Gabar paced the Lancers with 20 points.
The Rams will now head into one of Saturday's semi-finals against either No. 6 Bishop's Gaiters, the Quebec champion, or No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Ontario bronze medalists.
This is the first time in the history of the national championship that it has been held in Toronto.
And while there was a generous number of empty seats for the Ryerson game, where a sellout was anticipated given the Rams' participation, the atmosphere was buoyant and loud.
During the first two games earlier in the day, the converted hockey arena was crammed with thunderstick-wielding grade school students from the Greater Toronto Area who were given free admission.
It was a good idea, as the students' easy enthusiasm seemed to set the tone for all of the games.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the perennial powerhouse Carleton Ravens, looking to claim their fifth successive national title, easily buried the Saskatchewan Huskies 90-50 in their opening-round game.
The Canada West finalist and No. 8 seed were dismantled by Philip Scrubb, the sublime Ravens point guard. Scrubb poured in 28 of his game-high 31 points in the first half, in which the Ontario champs and the tourney's top seed sprinted to a 48-18 lead.
The Ravens will now be heading into the national semi-final for the 13th consecutive year on Saturday; they'll plays against the Victoria Vikes, the fourth seed and Canada West champs.
It was a bit of a slog, but the Vikes just managed to move on, needing two free throws from rangy forward Chris McLaughlin, the Canada West most valuable player, with just six seconds left the secure the 57-56 win over No. 5 Dalhousie Tigers.