WATERLOO, Ont. - In the standings, Friday night's game against the Queen's Gaels will go down as a loss for the Golden Hawks. Laurier of course won't get any points for how close they came to upsetting the #4-ranked team in U SPORTS, but after the performance they showed, it's hard to talk about anything else.
After taking a 2-0 lead on the game's first basket, Queen's wouldn't have another until Connor Kelly's layup broke a tie with 40 seconds to play in the final frame.
"A few bounces, a few rebounds our way, and we were sneaking out with the win," said Manager of Men's Basketball Operations and Head Coach Justin Serresse. "But it just didn't happen." The final score was 77-73 for the Gaels.
It was a one-man show on offence to begin the first quarter for Laurier, as Ben Stevens scored the team's first nine points of the game. The Golden Hawks held a 16-5 lead just over five minutes into the game.
Holding a 25-14 lead heading into the second quarter, Laurier continued to put pressure on Queen's offensively, at times dominating on that end of the court.
Even more impressive, however, was their defensive performance. The Golden Hawks held the Gaels to just 35% shooting from the field in the first half, including 0% from three-point range, with Queen's going 0 for 11 from deep.
Laurier also forced 12 turnovers before halftime, which together resulted in 16 points for the Golden Hawks.
Leading 41-29 at the break, an 8-4 run to begin the third quarter gave Laurier their largest lead of the night at 15 points. Their offence was beginning to dry up, however, as the three-point struggles which sank the Gaels in the first half now plagued the Golden Hawks. The purple and gold missed all seven attempts from long range in the third quarter, and made just one of six in the fourth.
Queen's had cut the lead to 56-49 heading into the final frame. From there, the Gaels' star duo Cole and Luka Syllas had a quarter reminiscent of the dominance Laurier fans saw from Ali Sow and Romello Taylor last season, as the brothers combined for 21 of the Gaels' 28 fourth-quarter points.
Serresse likened the Syllas' takeover to a boxer who, after getting outfought in the first few rounds, suddenly finds the energy to go all-out for the knockout punch. After taking the lead in the final minute, Queen's was able to hold on to complete the comeback.
"Obviously we're disappointed," said Serresse, "but the season still goes on."
"We're making strides. If you look at the games against Brock, then Toronto, Lakehead, and now Queens - our four losses - I feel like we're slowly getting there in terms of completing a game plan against the top teams."
"We've been in this situation before and tonight wasn't the outcome we wanted, but I think that we fought hard as a team and we showed that we could compete with a top ten team in the country," agreed Ben Stevens.
With the loss, the Golden Hawks fall to 3-4, while the Gaels remain undefeated at 6-0.
TOP PERFORMERS
Laurier Golden Hawks
Ben Stevens followed up last week's Laurier Athlete of the Week performance with his third straight double-double, leading the Golden Hawks in points (15) and rebounds (11) while also recording two blocks.
Queen's Gaels
While both Syllas brothers had a tremendous night scoring the ball, it was an all-around tour de force for Cole, who had the game-highs in points (25), rebounds (15), assists (5), blocks (3), and steals (2).
UP NEXT
Laurier has a chance to get right back to .500 Saturday night at 8 p.m. when they host the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. Tickets are on sale now.
