WATERLOO, Ont. - Three weeks ago, the Golden Hawks were riding a seven-game winning streak and cruising to an OUA West division title. Then the basketball gods threw them a couple sweeping curveballs.
First, three straight losses against the OUA's top three teams made the current four-game home stretch much more important to the playoff picture. Then, Laurier lost both their leading scorers – Taye Donald and DeAndrae Pierre – to injuries.
Playing their first game without both members of their star backcourt duo on Saturday night, the purple and gold stayed right with a red-hot York Lions squad until the final buzzer, but came up just short in a heartbreaker that finished 81-80.
Donald and Pierre's absence was felt in the first quarter, as the Golden Hawks struggled to get into a rhythm offensively. Vladimir Lukomski impressed with some aggressive plays and scored five of Laurier's first seven points, but that momentum quickly stalled. The Lions put together a 13-0 run and led 26-14 at the end of the frame.
Laurier battled back in the second, with Ethan Passley and Maxwell Voorpool stepping up as the primary ball-handlers. Voorpool scored seven straight points late in the quarter to take a brief lead, but York scored to make it 41-40 at halftime.
"Max I thought at first was overdoing it, and he's still not seeing the floor as well as I think he's capable," said Manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Justin Serresse. "But the confidence was there to take those big shots... if he can keep that up, that will be a positive."
Voorpool would finish with a career-high 17 points.
The Golden Hawks soared out of the break on a 7-0 run, and looked much more like their usual selves for most of the third quarter. Majok Deng was a standout, crashing the boards, working the pick-and-roll on offence, and making some great plays defensively. He'd finish with eight points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and three blocks.
Leading 62-59 heading into the final frame, Laurier once again hit a wall offensively. The Lions were able to take a 77-72 lead with just 23 seconds remaining on the clock.
That was time enough for the Golden Hawks to make it a game. Voorpool nailed a three-pointer off the inbound to cut the lead to two. Joshua Noton made it a two-score game again, but Ethan Passley answered right back with a jumper at the four-second mark.
Laurier was forced to foul, and Noton sank both free throws, pushing the lead back to four. Needing a three and a free throw, the Golden Hawks got the ball up the court quickly and found Voorpool, who made the three-pointer but couldn't draw the foul.
With the loss, Laurier drops to 14-6 on the season, and they now sit tied with Western atop the OUA West. Even still, Serresse emphasized that "we've got to stay positive. We've got to look at the silver lining here."
"We were missing 60 minutes and 50 to 60 points [Donald and Pierre's usual output] and it was still a one-point game. So, I was pretty happy about the fact that we could see what this team will look like without those two guys, and we stayed competitive. So that's all we can ask for."
"We rely on team cohesion, team defence, and I thought their scout execution was almost as good, sometimes even better than when we've had two injuries [in the past]."
Serresse made sure to highlight Dylan Brooks and Jalen Levene, two players who don't often get heavy minutes but were tasked with tough defensive assignments in this game and impressed the coaching staff with their play.
With two games remaining in the regular season, Serresse is hoping to keep his team moving in the right direction heading into the playoffs.
"It's just a focus on one game at a time. We got Toronto and then we got Western, and our goal is to stay committed as a team to get first place and get a bye, because the bye will buy us time [to get healthy]."
BY THE NUMBERS
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Another area where Donald and Pierre were missed was in containing York's leading scorer, Evan Shadkami. The fifth-year guard had a game-high 35 points on 63% shooting from the field, including 67% from three-point range.
"I think Taye and Dre would have made his life harder," said Serresse. "We made his life hard, but the kid is a bucket, he can score. I thought early in the game we didn't make it hard enough."
19
Laurier's leading scorer was Benhur Gebrekidan, whose 19 points are the second-highest total of his career. He also had five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
UP NEXT
The Golden Hawks are back at home next weekend. They face the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday, then the Western Mustangs on Saturday in a game that could decide the OUA West title.
Tip-off for both games is set for 8 p.m. at the Athletic Complex. Tickets are on sale now.
