WATERLOO, Ont. - After a disappointing loss the night before, the Golden Hawks got back into the win column on Saturday night, defeating the Nipissing Lakers 93-57.  

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded buckets for the majority of the frame, neither side getting ahead of each other by more than four points.  

Joshua Loblaw, coming off a night where he matched his career high in points, led the Golden Hawks in the first quarter with five points, and his and-one play at the end of the frame put Laurier in front 18-12.  

The Golden Hawks shot 32% from the field compared to Nipissing's 21%, and had six players contribute to the points category while Nipissing had four.  

It was a closer second quarter that the Lakers ultimately won 14-12. Both teams were cleaner in the turnover department, combining for five, but Nipissing got into foul trouble and put Laurier in the bonus for easy points.  

The Golden Hawks led 30-26 at the half.  

Like Friday night when the Laurentian Voyageurs stormed back in the second half, the Golden Hawks took a page out of that book and put on a dominant performance, outscoring the Lakers by 32 points in the second half.  

In the third quarter, the Golden Hawks went on a 10-0 run started by Liban Abdalla draining the jumper, and moments later took the feed from Ethan Passley and knocked down the three-pointer.  

In that same stretch, Isaiah Fisher forced the turnover and on the fastbreak laid it up and in for two, plus the harm, and completed the old-fashioned three-point play to put Laurier ahead 30-42. 

With 11 seconds remaining, Ethan Passley closed out the frame with a solo five-point run. On a missed three-pointer from the Lakers, Abdalla cleaned up the boards and sent Passley the other way where he got the hoop and harm.  

The Golden Hawks put up 28-points in the quarter on 11-17 shooting and made 3-7 three-pointers, two of which came from Abdalla. Laurier took a 16-point lead into the final frame, up 58-42.  

Abdalla dominated in the fourth quarter with 15 points, matching Nipissing's point total in the quarter. He went 5-6 from distance in seven minutes of floor time.  

Playing in just his fourth game for the Golden Hawks, Abdalla has been a force to be reckoned with coming off the bench. He had a career night, setting new personal bests in points and rebounds, and had his first career double-double with 23 points and 11 boards.  

Abdalla shot the lights out, going 8-14 from the field and 7-10 from three. His seven-made threes tied him for fourth all-time in Golden Hawks' program history.  

The Golden Hawks improved to 4-1 on the season and sit second in the OUA West behind the 6-0 #3-ranked Western Mustangs.  

UP NEXT 

The Golden Hawks hit the road for four games for their second longest road trip of the season, and will face tough competition in the #8 Carleton Ravens, #5 Ottawa Gee-Gees, Ontario Tech, and Queen's Gaels.