WATERLOO, Ont. - Golden Hawks basketball is back.
Laurier's men's team opened their season with a win Friday night, defeating the Western Mustangs 89-73 at home behind a career-high 25 points from second-year guard Ethan Passley.
Western looked like the better team to begin the game, jumping out to an 11-5 lead four minutes into the first quarter. Their fast-paced offence was giving the Golden Hawks trouble, and the Mustangs were able to create open shots off switches.
The purple and gold were able to catch up thanks to an offensive spark courtesy of Passley coming off the bench. He had eight points in the opening frame, and made a nice pass to set up the go-ahead bucket with seconds remaining.
Leading 28-27 heading into the second, Laurier continued to pour pressure on the Mustangs, beginning the frame with a 9-2 run.
Defensively, the Golden Hawks looked much better in the second quarter, forcing Western to settle for tougher shots and holding them to 13 points. They took a 51-40 lead into halftime.
"Against a team like that, that's impressive because they're a high scoring team," said Manager of Men's Basketball Operations and Head Coach Justin Serresse. "They were shooting well, but we were very active."
Laurier's strong defensive performance continued throughout the second half, in which the Mustangs shot a measly 11 for 31 from the field, including 2 for 10 from three-point range.
At the other end, the home crowd was treated to the Ethan Passley show, as the sophomore showed off his skillset, scoring in a variety of ways.
When asked what led to his breakout performance, Passley immediately gave credit to his teammates.
"Getting to the paint opens up my game a lot, so that's my main focus, but most important [to that] is the guys. They help me get into the paint and get to my spots. The spacing was right, everything was right with the team, without them I'm not able to get anywhere I want, so I'm grateful for that."
One of those teammates, Justin Malnerich, finished with 13 points in his first game wearing the purple and gold.
The score was 70-54 heading into the fourth, and Western could do nothing to close the gap as the Golden Hawks stood strong on defence.
Coach Serresse was hesitant to assign any special importance to winning the first game of the season, stating "in the OUA, every win is the most important win."
Even so, for a young team with lots of new faces, a convincing victory over a division rival is undeniably a good way to begin the year.
TOP PERFORMERS
Laurier Golden Hawks
While Coach Serresse says he wasn't surprised to see Passley put up the offensive numbers he did (25 points and five assists on 67% shooting), he praised the Kitchener native's defensive play. "He was moving his feet, using his speed, being a pest on defense... I was excited to see that."
Western Mustangs
Leading the way in scoring for Western was fourth-year forward Aryan Sharma with 17 points. Sharma was the Mustangs' best defensive player as well, recording three blocks and four steals.
UP NEXT
The purple and gold will be back in action Saturday, November 5, as they'll travel to St. Catharines to face the defending OUA champion Brock Badgers on the road. Game time is set for 8 p.m., follow @WLUAthletics for live updates, and catch all the action on OUA.tv.
