OTTAWA, Ont. - Last February, Laurier saw their season end at the Raven's Nest, as they failed to pull off the upset against perennial juggernauts Carleton in the OUA quarterfinals.
Eleven months later, the Golden Hawks walked into the same gym more confident, more composed, and were the better team for the full 40 minutes as they earned their first win over the Ravens since December 1995.
The result isn't exactly shocking, given #4-ranked Laurier sat second in the OUA at 12-2 while Carleton – unranked for the first time this season since 2000 – sported a respectable if unimpressive 9-6 record heading into Friday's battle of the birds.
Even still, Manager of men's basketball and head coach Justin Serresse expressed a lot of pride in the way his team handled the defending national champions.
"[Beating Carleton], especially in this gym, is never an easy thing to do," he said. "I wish we would have done it a few years back, and a few more times, but we're pretty happy. I thought more than anything the way we carried ourselves and the way we played was pretty impressive, beyond just the victory."
Impressive is an understatement. The Golden Hawks came out of the gates flying, and built a 12-5 lead before the Ravens took the game's first timeout four minutes in. It was back and forth the rest of the quarter, with Laurier holding a 26-22 advantage at the end of the first.
Two rare defensive miscues by the purple and gold led to consecutive three-pointers by Carleton early in the second, but Serresse called a timeout and his team responded with a 13-4 run to take control of the game. They never gave it back.
Laurier led 46-39 at halftime. The third quarter saw big plays from Maxwell Voorpool and Dylan Brooks, who each made the most of their breif appearances in this game. Voorpool went 3-5 from beyond the arc for nine points in just eight minutes.
"You want to empower your secondary," said Serresse. "I tell those guys, you're not going to make us lose a game, but you might make us win."
While Serresse leans heavily on his star players, he has confidence in his role players to step up when they're needed. "They can come in and give us what they gave today – I thought they were the difference, the X-factor."
As he often does, Serresse turned back to his veterans for the fourth quarter, with seniors Vladimir Lukomski, Benhur Gebrekidan, and DeAndrae Pierre playing most of the frame alongside Taye Donald and Nana Boateng.
Trailing 68-60 heading into the final frame, the Ravens did their best to claw their way back. In a mirror-image of last season's quarterfinal, it was the Golden Hawks' defence holding strong against a valiant comeback effort.
"They were getting it done, so I kept trusting them, and we got rewarded again," said Serresse. "They hadn't won here before, right? I told them, it's your last run, you better start doing stuff you've never done before because you ain't gonna have another chance."
The second-year Donald was Laurier's best player tonight, leading the team in points (24), assists (six) and steals (four).
The win moves the Golden Hawks to 13-2 on the season and extends their winning streak to seven games. The Ravens, menwhile, fall to 9-7.
BY THE NUMBERS
37-22
One area where Carleton retained their supremacy over the OUA this season has been the glass, and they dominated the rebounding battle on Friday night, grabbing 37 boards to Laurier's 22.
It didn't seem to make a difference, as the Golden Hawks were excellent defending in transition, preventing the Ravens from generating many fastbreak chances. They also held Carleton to just two second chance points off seven offensive rebounds.
"They're big, they're physical, that that's what they do well," said Serresse. "Against a team like that, you just don't want to give them their primary option. Go through your third, fourth, fifth option and see if you can beat us."
20
Another key to this win for Laurier was the 20 points they generated off turnovers. The Ravens gave the ball away 14 times while the Golden Hawks had just six giveaways.
UP NEXT
Laurier will have an even tougher test on Saturday when they face the #1 Ottawa Gee-Gees (15-1) at 4 p.m. at Montpetit Hall. Follow along for live updates and catch all the action on OUA.tv.
