Seneca Sting Men’s Basketball: Bringing Home Bronze

By Daniel Ialeggio

Seneca Sting Mens Basketball team went up against the Redeemer Royals in the 2020 OCAA bronze medal game. Sting were down by two going into the second quarter until taking a fourteen point lead going into the half. The Sting ended up winning 97-81, bringing home bronze.

Despite losing to Humber Hawks in the semi-finals and not having a chance at winning the OCAA, Sting’s head coach Jay McNeilly is pleased with his teams final performance.

“Last year we found ourselves in the same situation, a tough loss in the semi’s. After a year of maturity I thought it was a lot more important for Seneca as a institution overall, as an athletic program to leave with some hardware. I said to the guys, do it for the people that are going to be wearing red down the road, so they have something on the wall they can look up too to match hopefully when they get their chance.”

The Sting have been a top competitor in the OCAA for the last few years. McNeilly says his senior guys like Isaiah Ankra and Jordan Anderson have had a massive impact on the team by making sure they implement the Sting’s beliefs and values among the up-and-coming players. This has brought the team closer together and extremely powerful.

Isaiah Ankra could possibly be returning to the Sting. The senior is finishing up his third year at Seneca. A decision will be made in the next few weeks, as some Universities are interested in the North York native.

Dakota Lewis led Seneca in scoring and sat in fourth in the league, averaging 21.8 points per-game. Lewis is another player who will be making a decision whether to move onto USports or stay with the Sting.

McNeilly says he has been in talks the last few days with some new players. He wants to build depth in his team for next season. Depth is something that the Sting struggled with only having a ten man roster. The Sting are aiming at bringing in four to five quality pieces for new season.

The Sting finished the regular season with a 17-3 record,  good for second place in the East.