WATERLOO, Ont. – The Golden Hawks hosted their cross-town rivals the Waterloo Warriors in the first round of the Battle of Waterloo. After a tough outing on Wednesday that saw Laurier's three-game win streak end, the Golden Hawks wasted no time righting the ship with a 72-51 victory over the Warriors, handing them their fifth straight loss.
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The Golden Hawks got off to a strong start, going on a 10-2 run in the opening four minutes, beginning with a triple from
Taye Donald and ending with
Aidan Whalen knocking down the corner three.
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At 5:26, a steal by
Isaiah Fisher sent
Ethan Passley the other way where he made no mistake on the jumper, forcing the Warriors into a timeout with the Golden Hawks in front 14-5.
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The brief break gave the Warriors some energy, going on their own 7-0 run to cut the lead to 14-12. But the purple and gold kept their composure as Donald found
Terell Lloyd wide-open on the charity stripe for the uncontested two-pointer.
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Fast forward to the seven-minute marker in the second quarter, the Warriors once again closed the gap to 22-20 on back-to-back three's. However, the Golden Hawks had a response ready. Fisher collected his first of three offensive rebounds and cashed in from beyond the arc. He had seven points alone in the frame on 100% shooting.
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The Warriors were stumped multiple times by Laurier's defence, thanks in part to big-man
Omar Nur and the team's man-coverage. Nur's block sent the Warriors to inbound the ball with the shot clock expiring and were unable to convert. The Golden Hawks forced two time violations in the second quarter.
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The Golden Hawks took a 10-point 34-24 lead into halftime, limiting Waterloo to 32% field-goal shooting and 3-15 from three in the first 20 minutes, while the Golden Hawks were 43% from the field and 23% from deep.
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The Warriors' 10 points in the second quarter marked the tenth time they have scored 10 or less points in a frame this season. Despite this, the Golden Hawks were unsatisfied. "We let them slow us down in the second quarter," Donald said.
The Golden Hawks turned on the heat with 23 points in the third quarter. "The emphasis was on transition basketball, don't let them set up their zone. They had a tough time being able to keep up with us," said Donald.
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Not only did the team heat up, but Donald turned into a nightmare for the Warriors. Off a Waterloo turnover with the Golden Hawks going downhill, Passley and Donald showed off their connection not once but twice as Passley assisted on Donald's back-to-back three's.
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At 4:24, Fisher and Passley teamed up for the steal, and the Warriors got lost in transition, leaving Whalen the space to hit the corner three, extending the Hawks lead to 48-31.
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The Golden Hawks continued to expose the weaknesses in the Warriors zone defence as Lloyd was allowed to drive the post and find Donald in the corner for another three.
Laurier made four three-pointers in the third quarter with three of those coming from Donald's hands. At the final buzzer, Donald recorded his first double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
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"It's cool," he said. "I knew we were going to be playing against a zone. Another emphasis from Wednesday was that we didn't rebound well, so I made it my goal tonight to help the bigs. It's definitely cool, but it's more so just trying to help my team."
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"It's no secret that one of our strong suits is playing with pace and attacking," manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Cavell Johnson said about his side's third quarter play.
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Laurier kept the pressure on in the final frame. At 6:01, Passley took on his defender one-on-one, and there was nothing to be done to stop Passley when he locks in with that smooth jumper. He ended his night with 14 points, four assists, and three rebounds.
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"He's so shifty and can get past the first line of defence," Johnson said about Passley. "He's definitely almost damn near perfected that mid-range shot."
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"That box inside the key is where I practiced every shot when I was a kid. As I grew older, stronger, a little bit bigger, I always had the athleticism to elevate and release higher. It's second nature to me honestly. It's definitely my bread and butter," said Passley.
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With 5:33 remaining, Donald reached an impressive milestone as he recorded his 1,000th career point.
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"It's pretty crazy especially since I've only been in the league for three years, so I think that's pretty impressive. I think it's just a testimony of being able to boost my team and help everyone out," he said.
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Passley chimed in to say, "I'll take the humbleness away from him. I would say three years it's big to do that and hit 1,000 points. A lot of guys aren't capable of hitting shots that he's shooting or taking over games that he's taking over, and people need to recognize the talent that he has on the court where it's just complete dominance."
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"He's a damn workhorse. That guy is not afraid to work, ever. I'm just happy for him to be able to reach such a milestone. And if he continues to put that kind of work into his craft like he does now, this won't be the last 1,000 point night of his career," Johnson commented.
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The Golden Hawks have a much-needed week off before the Western Mustangs come into town to kick off a stretch of six games in 16 days to close out the regular season.
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"Just honing into the process, like coach David [McCulloch] always talks about, and just thinking about the next. We know what's coming ahead, it's nothing easy, we still have to put our foot on the gas," Passley said, looking ahead.
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Tickets for the 8pm tip-off on Friday, January 31 are available
here.
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