Laval downs Queen's to capture 1st men's basketball national title in program history

Before the U Sports men's basketball champion, Laval University's head coach Nathan Grant said his team rises to challenges from a superior team.

On Sunday, players on the Rouge et Or showed their head coach was right.

In front of a sellout and loud Amphitheatre-Desjardins on the campus of the University of Laval in Quebec City, the host Rouge et Or captured their first-ever U Sports men's basketball national championship by defeating the Queen's Gales 77-71.

WATCH | Laval captures 1st title in program history:

The women's final featuring top-seeded Saskatchewan against defending champion Carleton will begin at 9:30 p.m. ET in Edmonton.

Ranked eighth heading into the Final 8, Laval will hang the first basketball banner in the history of the institution.

It was a see-saw battle between the No. 2 seed Queen's and Laval. Down early by the score of 8-5, the Rouge et Or battled back to score 16 unanswered points to take a 21-8 advantage. Laval led 24-17 after the first quarter.

Queen's fought back in the second quarter and took the ball to the offensive boards, as they became more physical under the net, especially with the play of Adeforlaren (Fofo) Adetogun, who got under the skin of many Laval players. The Gaels managed to slow down the rapid Laval players and took a 43-39 lead to the dressing room at halftime.

A more poised Laval team came back for the second half and started using its speed as Grant's players were often the first player to retrieve a loose ball or fetch a rebound.

Diminutive forward Steeve Joseph (five-foot-eight) who played his CEGEP basketball at Vanier in Montreal was the court leader throughout the game. In the second half, Joseph calmly led the offence on the court, getting his teammates set,