WATERLOO, Ont. – It was a back-and-forth affair Friday night as the Golden Hawks hosted the Western Mustangs. After a rather flat first quarter, the Golden Hawks turned on the jets, managing to slow down the streaking Mustangs, but fell just two points short for a final score of 70-68.
Â
In the first quarter,
Ethan Passley put the Golden Hawks on his shoulders, and continued to do so in the second frame, this time with some help from
Isaiah Fisher and
Aidan Whalen. Passley netted five of the team's 14 points in eight minutes, all before Whalen showed off his range.
Â
On a missed shot destined to go out of bounds for Western to in-bound, Whalen swooped in with the save and sent a perfect pass to Fisher, who gave it right back to Whalen in the corner to cash in three points, cutting the Mustangs lead to 29-28.
Â
Â
The Mustangs would not concede another basket for the final two minutes, leading the Golden Hawks 33-28 going into halftime.
Â
"They got into the paint, rising above our defence to knock down some mid-range jumpers. It definitely hurt," manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Cavell Johnson said.
Â
"That's the kind of game plan we would have preferred, forcing contested mid-range shots. We wanted to stifle their three-point attempts, but they still shot a pretty good three-point percentage. And when ours was as bad as it was, it made it very hard to gain offensive confidence when we're getting wide-open shots and we're not hitting."
Â
The Golden Hawks three-point percentage was bad, only at 15.7% compared to Western's 38.4% through two quarters. However, the purple and gold turned that around in the third quarter.
Â
After Western extended their lead to six points, the Golden Hawks went on a major 17-6 run through the first five minutes. Whalen beat the Mustangs for the offensive rebound, resetting to Passley up top where
Taye Donald knocked down three.
Â
Off the Western turnover, it was Donald again, this time from the corner, hitting another deep shot to bring the score level at 36. The Mustangs turned the ball over once again and the Golden Hawks took advantage. Whalen drove to the paint but was met with two Mustangs, throwing a pass to Fisher who attracted those same Mustangs, leaving Whalen open in the corner and he made no mistake on the catch-and-shoot triple.
Â
The Golden Hawks were not quite done tallying three's. With the shot clock down to one second, Donald fired the step-back and it was nothing but net, putting him at nine points in the quarter and his side up in front by four at 42-38.
Â
Whalen, once again, was in for the offensive rebound, attracting another crowd of Mustangs, leaving Fisher wide-open on the wing for yet another three-pointer at 5:05.
Â
Â
Fisher has been a consistent starter for the Golden Hawks on both ends of the floor, and ended his night with his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Â
"It wasn't my best shooting night, but I know I can rebound and get to the lane," Fisher said. "I'm a shooter, and I'm going to keep shooting. And the two [three-pointers] I made for us were huge. Imagine I didn't take those shots, the game could be a different story."
Â
"If you're a shooter, you gotta have that confidence and never let no one take that away from you."
Â
Western could not beat Laurier's effort on the glass, out rebounding the Mustangs 46-32, and most noticeably on the offensive boards with 18-9, thanks in part to Fisher and Whalen, but also forwards
Matei Vucenovic and
Chidera Ubosi, where all four combined for 15 of the Golden Hawks offensive rebounds.
Â
"I don't think we've had a performance like that on the offensive boards all year, and that's what we need to be successful," Johnson said.
Â
However, after the Mustangs were bombarded by Laurier's flurry of three's, they shut out the Golden Hawks for the remaining five minutes of the third quarter to regain a 47-45 lead going into the final quarter.
Â
It was a thrilling fourth quarter as both teams fought tooth and nail, the lead not exceeding six points for either side. From Passley's inbound pass, Whalen was left alone in his corner office, getting another triple to go. The Golden Hawks were nipping at the Mustangs' heels, down one point at 52-51.
Â
At 3:42, the Mustangs could not solve Whalen's sharp-shooting, hitting his fourth three-pointer of the night, finishing with a new career-high 18 points along with six rebounds and four assists.
Â
Â
"I work on those shots every day," Whalen said. "They were leaving me and Isaiah open, and I think we made them pay for it for the most part, and that's what we're going to continue to do when we're open."
Â
With the Golden Hawks down by four, Ubosi came up huge. He got up well above the Mustangs who were crowding the key, eventually bobbling the ball, but Ubosi did not back down, taking on the three Mustangs using his sheer strength and size to bank in a much needed two points with just under 30 second remaining.
Â
Â
"Chidera was on go-mode from the first moment he touched the floor, and he never let off," said Johnson. "If he can play like that to close out the season and help push us into the playoffs, we will be even more dangerous with him playing with that kind of motor and that kind of dog effort."
Â
It ended in heartbreak for the Golden Hawks as they were unable to close out the game, falling to 7-10 on the season, but still sit in the third spot in the OUA West.
Â
