WATERLOO, Ont. - The NCAA Division II's Mercyhurst Lakers made the trip from Erie, Pennsylvania to Waterloo to face the Golden Hawks on Saturday. They'd leave disappointed as the purple and gold earned a dominant 91-52 win.
The game looked competitive to start, as both offenses took a few minutes to get rolling. Taye Donald was the catalyst for the Golden Hawks, drilling a three-pointer through contact before completing the four-point play, and then drawing a charge a few possessions later which brought the bench to their feet.
Leading 19-15 heading into the second, Laurier began to take control of the game. They started the frame with an 18-2 run punctuated by a forceful slam dunk from Majok Deng.
After Mercyhurst won the rebounding battle 12-7 in the first, the Golden Hawks dominated on the glass in the second, pulling down 14 boards to the Lakers' 4. The lead had grown to 41-24 by halftime.
The court began to tilt even more in Laurier's favour in the third quarter. The Golden Hawks put together another big run, this one 21-6, which was kept alive on a few occasions by some impressive individual efforts.
Isaiah Fisher made a desperation turn-around jumper just as the shot clock expired. Deng got up for a nice block on the defensive end, and finally DeAndrae Pierre made a tough floater through contact to beat the buzzer.
With the score 65-35 heading into the final frame, Laurier manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Justin Serresse turned to his bench. First-year guard Terrell Lloyd looked good in just nine minutes of play, scoring 11 points including consecutive three-pointers that showed off the smooth shooting that won him two OCAA scoring titles.
"He's a natural scorer. He can shoot the ball, that's what he does," said Serresse on Lloyd. "I'm still trying to figure out how we can utilize him – utilize his atheism, his length, his size and get him into our rotation. What he did today was a step forward."
Overall, Serresse was impressed with the team's performance offensively against a very good defensive team. Mercyhurst held Laurier's rivals McMaster to just 53 points on Friday.
"For me it was a game where we needed to just be able to read the game because they're unpredictable with their rotation."
The Golden Hawks were able to get buckets in a variety of ways. They shot 46.2% from beyond the arc, while their third quarter run was mostly powered by inside and mid-range shots.
The usual suspects of Donald and Ethan Passley were the leading scorers for the purple and gold with matching 15-point efforts, while Pierre added 12.
Serresse also praised those three guards' playmaking: "13 assists from our three prime primary playmakers, I'm happy with that."
TOP PERFORMERS
Laurier Golden Hawks
#6 – Ethan Passley
Passley's offensive output came on incredibly efficient shooting to the tune of 7-9 from the field. He also had a game-high six assists without committing a turnover, and one steal.
Mercyhurst Lakers
#21 – Max Jusianiec
Jusianiec's game-high 16 points were double that of his team's next highest scorer, and he did it shooting 50% from the field including 4-6 from three-point range. He also had four rebounds, a block, and a steal.
UP NEXT
The Golden Hawk will play their final two exhibition games next weekend when they host the Calgary Dinos on Friday, October 20 and the Acadia Axemen the following day. Tip-off for Friday's game is set for 6 p.m. at the Athletic Complex.
Serresse wants his team to continue to build on the improvements they've made so far in the preseason as they get closer to the start of OUA play. "We want to gradually, constantly be getting better each day, each game, each quarter. I think we've done that the last two games."
Laurier will open the regular season at home against the McMaster Marauders at 8 p.m. on November 1. Tickets are on sale now.
