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Laurier Athletics - Waterloo Campus

Ethan Passley drives by a Guelph defender
Laurel Jarvis
79
Laurier LAURIER 8-11, 8-11
89
Winner Guelph GUELPH 6-13, 6-13
Laurier LAURIER
8-11, 8-11
79
Final
89
Guelph GUELPH
6-13, 6-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Laurier LAURIER 16 22 16 25 79
Guelph GUELPH 26 20 21 22 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Natasha Giannantonio

Slow start hurts Golden Hawks against Gryphons

GUELPH, Ont. – The Golden Hawks made the trip down Highway 7 to the Royal City to renew their rivalry with the Guelph Gryphons. It was a rough offensive night that ultimately sunk the Golden Hawks as they fell 89-79.
 
"Overall, our energy was extremely flat. I don't think we came into the game with the sense of urgency that we needed," manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Cavell Johnson said.
 
The Gryphons got out to a fast start, setting the tone from the jump. With the Golden Hawks trailing 13-4, Chidera Ubosi got to work in the paint. Over the past four games, Ubosi has averaged six rebounds per game and continued that trend, cleaning up the missed shot, was too strong for his defender, and put away the dunk.
   
Late in the first quarter, Jalen Levene was left wide-open and sank the three-ball to get the Golden Hawks back within five points, but the Gryphons kept pushing and took the 26-16 lead into the second frame.
   
The Gryphons were able to keep the OUA's fifth best scorer, Taye Donald, quiet in the first quarter but he lit up in the second with a team-leading ten points. At 6:17, Donald lost his defender for the deep two, getting the Golden Hawks back within single digits.
   
Again, down by ten, Donald and Ubosi were locking in and showed off their connection on the alley-oop, and no one is going to stop Ubosi when he climbs the ladder.
   
The Golden Hawks were able to keep Guelph in check during the second quarter, but still trailed 46-38 at halftime. The biggest takeaway of the opening twenty minutes, which continued throughout the game, was the Gryphons three-point shooting.
 
"We gave wide-open shots to guys that we went over in the scouting report as shooters, as guys that we wanted to close out on and make them finish contested shots in the paint, and then not going out and leaving those guys open for shots, that's the story of the night," Johnson said.
At the two minute warning of the third quarter, the Golden Hawks found themselves behind by 19 points – the largest gap in the game – and needed a quick fix. Coming out of the timeout, Donald found Terell Lloyd in the corner and knocked down the triple.
   
Ethan Passley stepped up for the purple and gold in the later stages of the third quarter, cashing in three points, and then again as time was winding down Passley beat the buzzer with the deep jumper.
   
If Donald's ten points in the second quarter seemed like a lot, he put the Golden Hawks on his back in the come-back attempt with 15 points in the frame, tying his season high for points in a single quarter this season.
   
Donald finished his night with his third 30-point game of the year with 31 points and five assists. After recording his 1,000th point against the Waterloo Warriors a month ago, Donald hit another milestone, reaching 300 points on the season, which he has done in all three years as a Golden Hawk.
 
Despite Donald's performance, the Golden Hawks were able to close the 19 point deficit, but not enough to pull off the win. As the regular season winds down, every game matters.
 
"At the end of the day, we definitely have to take it one game at a time. The primary focus right now is Saturday, fixing up our shortcomings from today to do better on Saturday," Johnson said.
 
The Golden Hawks wrap up their home-and-home with the Gryphons on Saturday for Senior Day. Tipoff is set for 3pm, and be sure to grab your tickets here.
 
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