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The arena was packed as history repeated itself with the Bold women’s and men’s basketball teams taking home the 2025/26 Critelli and Wilson Cups, respectively.
The teams had already completed the impressive feat 10 years ago in the 2015/16 season.
Both teams defeated the Carleton Ravens at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) yesterday. The arena was jam-packed with unwavering support for the Bold.
The big day started with the women’s final at 3 p.m. Before the game, members of both teams were recognized for their regular season honours, including Bold forward Hailey Franco DeRyck winning the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Bold were in a close contest with Carleton for the first half but took the lead in a strong second half, securing the victory, 75 to 60.
Guard Myriam Kone was awarded player of the game with 22 points and nine assists, a moment where she was overcome with emotion as she was met with cheers from her teammates and the crowd.
The players celebrated with their family, capping off an incredible season with a championship.
The Bold fans regrouped at 7 p.m. for the men’s final. Like the women’s game, the teams were recognized for their individual honours before the game started.
Head coach David DeAveiro was awarded Coach of the Year, and guard Aaron Rhooms took home the season’s MVP award for the second year in a row.
The game tipped off, and TMU got off to a hot start, ending the first quarter up by six.
While Carleton stayed within reaching distance of the lead, the Bold managed the game well and saw the game out, winning the final 66 to 56.
The points were shared throughout the whole team, but it was Rhooms who led the scoring with 16 points. As the buzzer sounded, Rhooms was overcome with joy as he closed out his TMU Bold journey with a championship.
It was guard Gabriel Gutsmore who took home player of the game for some big steals and shots made in the 4th quarter.
Both teams came together at the end of the day to take one big group photo to cap off a memorable day for the TMU Bold and its supporters, who stayed from the very start and made their presence known.
The road does not end here for the teams. The TMU Bold women’s and men’s basketball teams will compete in the national championships.
The women’s team heads to Quebec City this month as they look to win the U Sports Championship for the first time since the 2021/22 season. Meanwhile, the men will travel to Calgary in the hunt for their first-ever national championship.
Jaden Whitelaw is a multimedia journalist who specializes in radio and television news broadcasting.
He is an undergraduate journalism student at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). He has experience in news writing, news and sports reporting for TV and radio as well as technical production including expertise in Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro. He is the audio producer of a documentary style podcast entitled 'The Art of Moises," which can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Jaden has also been tested in a live newsroom after interning at 680 News Radio Toronto in Spring 2025. He was entrusted by experienced journalists to write copy stories, gather breaking news content and produce news stories for on-air. He has also voiced a news story which has made it to air.
No AI tools were used in the production of this piece.
