Box Score WATERLOO, Ont. - Any sports fan knows it's games like these that hurt the most.
Heading into the fourth quarter trailing by a wide margin, Laurier put together a few big runs and had the home crowd on the edge of their seats. Ultimately, though, the purple and gold fell just short of completing the comeback, losing the second leg of a home-and-home against the Windsor Lancers, 90-84.
Laurier's offence, which had been a torrential downpour with the amount of shots it had falling on Wednesday night in Windsor, was kept to a weak drizzle during the first half. Held at bay by a very determined Windsor defence, the Golden Hawks mustered only 25 points before the halftime buzzer.Â
The first quarter was predictably a hard-fought affair, with the Lancers setting the pace early, hoping to bounce back after Wednesday's blow-out loss. Windsor forward Thomas Kennedy was a factor right from the opening tip, putting up ten points and four rebounds in the opening frame, which ended with Laurier down 21-14.
"The first quarter can happen. They came back and they made the adjustments (needed)" said head coach
Justin Serresse after the game. It was the second quarter where he believed the Golden Hawks let the game get away from them.Â
While Serresse's emphasis was on his team's defensive struggles, their shooting was also a big reason the Lancers were able to build such a large lead. Laurier made only 25% of their field goal attempts in the second, while Windsor shot a very respectable 58.8%. The score at halftime was 46-25 for the Lancers.
"When we play well, we play with pace but we don't rush offensively, and we take what the defence is giving us. In the first half we were just not willing to do that," said Serresse.
There were signs of life in the Golden Hawks' offence coming out of halftime, mostly thanks to
Ali Sow (Ottawa), who scored 12 of his team-leading 30 points in the third quarter. Laurier's shooting also improved to 52.6% in the frame.
Going into the fourth, the odds of a comeback were still quite low, with Windsor leading 65-50.Â
After an early Lancers three-pointer from Telloy Simon, Laurier answered right back with a big basket from
Ben Stevens, and from then on cut into Windsor's lead little-by-little nearly every possession.Â
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Around two minutes into the quarter,
Ali Sow stole the ball off a Windsor inbound and went up for what was nearly an OUA dunk-of-the-year candidate, but was fouled and just barely missed scoring. He would go on to make both free-throws, and was a problem for the Lancers' defence throughout the final frame, scoring 13 points.
In the final minutes, big shots from
Ethan Passley (Kitchener) and
Kareem Elliott (Brampton, Ont.) brought the crowd to their feet, and the Golden Hawks managed to bring the game within five points with less than 60 seconds left to play.
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In the end, however, the Lancers managed to hold on, led by Simon's nine fourth-quarter points.
The loss brings the Golden Hawks record down to 2-4 heading into the holiday break.
"I think we need to focus on getting healthy, mentally and physically," said Serresse.Â
"[We're going to] use this time with coaches to digest what went well, what didn't go well, and get better."
Top Performers
Golden Hawks
G -
Ali Sow
After Wednesday's 31-point double-double, the OUA scoring leader had another stand-out game, leading his team in points (30), rebounds (eight), and assists (seven).
Lancers
G - Telloy Simon
With a section's worth of family and friends in attendance to cheer him on, the Kitchener native put on a sensational performance. He had a double-double with 30 points and 14 rebounds, while also shooting a ridiculous 7 for 12 from three-point range.
Up Next
The Golden Hawks will play their next game at home after the Christmas break on January 12. They'll play the #10 Western Mustangs at 8 p.m. at the Athletic Complex. Tickets are on sale
here, and you can watch along as always on
OUA.tv.
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