WATERLOO, Ont. - Less than two weeks after losing by just one point to York, the Golden Hawks welcomed the Lions back into the Athletic Complex and sent them packing just as quick, earning a 78-72 victory in the first round of OUA playoff action.
Laurier lost six of their last seven regular season games, dropping out of first place in the OUA West division and missing their chance at a first round bye. For a team that has had championship aspirations all season, it was a dissatisfying way to go into the playoffs, but Manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Justin Serresse expressed pride in the resiliency his team has showed through this adversity.
"Only the strong survive. I truly believe that. You've got to be strong-minded, you've got to be disciplined, you've got to be the resilient to be able to operate in any industry, but obviously we're in the sports industry and we know that is definitely a key factor."
The Golden Hawks have shown that resilience time and time again this season, and tonight was no different, as they had to overcome an early York lead to come back and win the game.
Turnovers were a key factor in the first half. Laurier gave the ball away eight times in the first two quarters, and the Lions were ruthless in transition, turning those into 17 points at the other end.
Ethan Passley was a bright spot in the first half for the Golden Hawks and had a game-high 13 points at the break. On the other end, Majok Deng made his presence felt with three blocks in the first half.
A solo 5-0 run from Passley near the end of the second quarter cut into the Lions' lead, and Laurier would go into the third quarter trailing 39-37.
With usual starter Vladimir Lukomski joining DeAndrae Pierre on the injured list for this game, Serresse was forced to shuffle his lineups, with some young players getting big minutes in their first playoff appearances. Maxwell Voorpool and Jalen Levene made their first ever starts, while Terell Lloyd set career-highs in minutes played (28), rebounds (nine), and steals (three) off the bench.
"Recently, we've had some of the younger guys show us they're capable of way more," said fifth-year forward Benhur Gebrekidan. "Every game we've seen Jalen, Max, [Dylan Brooks], and Terell today, young guys that are coming in and they're just giving us something... that's what's helped us."
Serresse, meanwhile, shouted out his veterans for their leadership. "Majok and Benhur, those two guys inspired everybody. Those two seniors, they don't want to go home."
Gebrekidan made that crystal clear to start the third quarter, as he scored nine points as part of a 13-6 run to start the second half for the Golden Hawks.
Gebrekidan finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, marking another in a string of impressive games for him over the past few weeks.
"Coaches have been telling me, you don't want to leave something on the table... it's your last year, you've got to leave it all out on the floor," he said.
"I just ran with that mentality. Every game, shoot the ball with confidence. I'm just trying to get myself open and trying to get my teammates open. I'm displaying way more confidence than I have in the past and just trusting my abilities. I'm doing things, I've been doing that practice and like working on, but just I didn't have that confidence in games to do it."
Laurier led 60-58 heading into the final frame. The Lions battled back and took a brief one-point lead off a three-pointer from Evan Shadkami, but a 15-5 Golden Hawks run pushed the game out of reach.
York is now eliminated from the playoffs, while Laurier moves on to face the team that stole their division title; the #8 Western Mustangs. The Mustangs narrowly beat the Golden Hawks in Saturday's regular season finale 79-76, though Laurier took the previous meeting 91-83 on the road.
"We're familiar with them, but they're familiar with us," said Serresse. "You know it's going to be a grunt. Over there, it's never going to be easy. I think we've got the weapons to make it happen. It's up to us to recover, refresh, reboot, unplug, replug, and move on."
BY THE NUMBERS
21
Leading the way offensively for Laurier was Taye Donald with 21 points. The Golden Hawks' leadings scorer has scored 20 or more points in each of his three games since returning from injury.
22
Donald's biggest impact in this game, however, came on the defensive end. He was instrumental in containing York's Evan Shadkami, who finished just one spot ahead of Donald on the OUA scoring leaderboard in the regular season.
Shadkami still managed a game-high 22 points, but it was a far cry from the 37 he scored in last week's matchup, which Donald missed. Shadkami also dictated play far less on both ends tonight, recording just one steal and only two free throw attempts, going 1-2.
"There's levels to this. When you play a guy like Taye, you know you're about to feel it," said Serresse.
UP NEXT
Tip-off against Western is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 24 at Western Alumni Hall in London. Follow @WLUAthletics for live updates and catch all the action on OUA.tv.
