WATERLOO, Ont. - The first half of the season could not have ended any better for the Golden Hawks as they took the Lakehead Thunderwolves down to the wire and came away with a two-point overtime win, 104-102.
Before the game tipped off, a ceremony was held for Rick Pajor, the longtime voice of Laurier basketball. Pajor officially retired from the role in the summer after 45 years of being on the microphone. He will not be far from Laurier as he now joins the Golden Hawks Hall of Fame selection committee.
The game was a shootout right from the jump as both teams combined for 55.6% shooting in the first quarter. Joshua Loblaw led the way for the Golden Hawks with seven points, followed by Isaiah Fisher with six.
Loblaw hit the game's first three-pointer off Liban Abdalla's assist, and minutes later he came away with the steal and assisted Abdalla's triple to put the Golden Hawks up by four just three minutes in.
Loblaw has been a consistent contributor throughout the season's first half, averaging just over 10 points per game, and was a key part of Laurier's win. He ended the night with a career high in points and rebounds with 20 and eight, respectively, and had four assists and three steals.
"Every game has been a stepping stone for me. I feel like I'm more comfortable being with the ball and getting downhill, not playing rushed, just controlling and picking my spots and setting up the other guys to get theirs as well," Loblaw said.
And that was not the last that Lakehead would see of Loblaw.
Lakehead closed out the quarter on the free throw line and led 31-26 after ten minutes of play.
In the second quarter, two rookies started to turn up the heat. Off the opening inbound, a three-point shot missed the mark for Laurier, but Julien Binzangi boxed out a Thunderwolves player, and the rebound bounced to Malik Langenegger who nailed the triple.
On Lakehead's next possession, Binzangi denied Keylian Coulibaly. Shortly after, Lakehead's 6'10" centre Harold Santacruz thought he had an easy bucket with the size mismatch, but Binzangi rejected the big man, and Aidan Whalen took it all the way to the rim for two points.
Langenegger was at it once again, sinking another three-ball to give Laurier a one-point lead at 36-35, and it was part of his team high eight points in the frame.
However, the Thunderwolves went on a lengthy 15-4 run that featured three consecutive three-pointers in four minutes, gaining their largest lead of the game at 50-40 with 1:43 left in the half.
The Golden Hawks chipped away with their own 8-2 run to close the quarter and trailed 52-48 at the break. Both teams were relatively even in the shooting department with Lakehead operating at 50% and Laurier at 46.2%. Even though Lakehead out rebounded the Golden Hawks on the offensive glass 10-5, they could only manage nine second chance points to Laurier's eight.
Four minutes into the third quarter, Abdalla forced the turnover and Langenegger converted on the other end with three points, bringing the deficit to two points. On Laurier's next trip, Abdalla got into the paint and tied the score at 57.
Binzangi continued to dominate the boards, having eight of Laurier's 11 in the frame. He had more rebounds than the entire Lakehead team had, as they were only able to get six. Binzangi ended the game with 14 rebounds, split between five offensive and nine defensive. He now sits tied for fifth in Laurier's program history for most rebounds in a single game by a rookie.
"Julien's been a massive piece for us all year. He's a great athlete; he shows up every day and works his ass off. He's long, athletic, and against their big tonight, who's a solid player, Julien did a great job, and all of those rebounds were huge for us," Whalen said, crediting his rookie.
"What I liked the most about Julien's performance, other than the rebounds, was that he defended well. Even for being undersized, or not a traditional big, he defended so well," added manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Cavell Johnson.
"We did some work to show him how to position himself and get himself in better situations when guarding bigger guys, so he obviously paid attention and took that to heart, and he came out and played so hard. It was amazing to see."
Later in the third quarter, Whalen found his rhythm from distance. He made back-to-back triples and converted the and-one, scoring nine points in just over one minute to give the Golden Hawks a 71-66 lead.
The Thunderwolves responded, and the game was tied 71-71 going into the fourth quarter.
Whalen kept going in the fourth, going 2-2 from three and 2-2 from the line on the only free throws the Golden Hawks shot. The team got into foul trouble, sending the Thunderwolves to the stripe 10 times. However, Lakehead would only convert seven shots.
It was a tightly contested fourth quarter as neither team got ahead of the other by more than five points. And like the previous two games that were decided by one shot, this one went down to the wire.
Chris Sagl's triple put Lakehead up 94-91, forcing the Golden Hawks to burn a timeout with 10 seconds left.
Johnson relayed the conversation coming out of the stoppage, saying, "Right before Malik left me, he goes, 'Coach, after I fake the screen for Liban, do you want me to run and clear out to the other side?' I told him, 'No, I need you to come back to this corner so you can be an option.'"
The Golden Hawks inbounded inside of Lakehead territory, time not on their side, the defense tight. Nobody was open except for the guy that sealed the deal two nights prior: the rookie Langenegger.
"The initial play was for Liban at the top of the key, then I noticed that he was running and getting blocked off, so I decided I had to get open and I ran to the corner. Josh trusted me, hit me with the ball, and I just had to shoot it," Langenegger said.
His catch-and-shoot three tied the game at 94-94, sending it to overtime. It was the first overtime period for either team and only the third overtime game in the OUA this season.
Three minutes into extra time, Isaiah Fisher's three-pointer was good all the way from the corner of King and University, retaking the lead at 100-99.
A quick three points from Lakehead put the visitors ahead 102-100 with under two minutes remaining. Laurier was in another inbound situation where Whalen found Langenegger who cut into the paint, and he rose above the 6'6" Carson Unrau to pot home the soft-touch floater, tying the game at 102.
Langenegger put on another stellar performance with 21 points, four rebounds, and two assists, going 44.4% from the floor.
"I feel like in Wednesday's game, there were a lot of times where I was just going fast, fast, fast, when I should have been mixing it up, figuring out where everyone's at, and finding open guys and not just rushing into the first thing that we got. That's what helped me control the pace and make the right decisions today," he said.
The Thunderwolves rolled the dice and put Laurier in the bonus, but they sent the wrong guy to the line in Whalen, who is seventh in the OUA in free throw percentage at 83.3%. He went 2-2 and 7-7 overall. The Golden Hawks were back in front 104-102.
With Lakehead working in the paint fighting to even the score, Loblaw came up with the clutch steal to seal the deal for the Golden Hawks.
"He was in the dog fight right down to the last steal he got when he doubled off the post entry pass to Harold Santacruz, and he turned right away when the ball went over his head and got the steal. That's the assertiveness we want Josh to have," Johnson said.
Whalen's performance did not go unnoticed. "That guy, I'm just going to start calling him Mr. Man. He's just solid. And it's not just how he shows up on the court; it's how he shows up in the locker room, in film, and in practice. I'm just happy for him," Johnson remarked.
Whalen finished with a career high 34 points on 52.4% shooting, along with two rebounds and an assist.
"I've had a good couple of games leading into tonight, so I'm just trying to keep rolling. I'm lucky to be in this position where I can be aggressive and take those shots when I'm asked to do so, and I thought I did well tonight," he said.
"We know we're building something really good. We let a few slip on the road, so we understood the importance of these last two games for the standings and what we're building. I think that drove us to make sure we got these wins."
The Golden Hawks head into the winter break with a 6-5 record and two-game winning streak, and sit second in the OUA West. Their 104 points marked the first 100-point game for the team since January 17, 2025, when they put up 105 against Algoma.
With the loss, the Thunderwolves had their four-game winning streak snapped and are third in the Central at 6-3.
The Golden Hawks now have a much needed five and a half weeks of rest before they hit the court for 2026 when they visit the TMU Bold on Wednesday, January 7.
