WATERLOO, Ont. - The Golden Hawks broke their four-game skid against the Waterloo Warriors in the season's second edition of the Battle of Waterloo, winning 88-81.  

The Golden Hawks entered the game off a crushing midweek loss to Guelph, while the Warriors were riding high after upsetting the #4-ranked Western Mustangs.  

Manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Cavell Johnson's message got through to his team, "We have to understand that this is going to be over very, very soon. We have to win games to get into the playoffs." 

The first meeting between the teams on Halloween night was all treats and no tricks for the purple and gold, winning 77-75 on a last second bucket from Ethan Passley. The Warriors made things interesting down the stretch this time around, but Laurier held on.  

If the Warriors didn't have nightmares about Passley last time, they certainly will this time.  

Passley dropped a season high 22 points on a near perfect shooting night, going 10-11 from the field, where his 10 makes were a season high, and 2-2 from three-point range. He also picked up six rebounds and four assists.  

In eight games played against Waterloo in his career, Passley has scored 115 points, marking his most points scored against a conference opponent. He moved to eighth in all-time career points (915) and career assists (236), and sixth in career field goals (368) in Laurier's program history. 

It was a back-and-forth affair in the first quarter as both teams were letting it fly from all over the court. Both teams shot the lights out from distance with the Golden Hawks going 5-9 from three and 4-5 for the Warriors.  

Malik Langenegger led the Golden Hawks in points with eight on a perfect 3-3 shooting. With three minutes and change left in the first and the shot clock expiring, Jeremy Rudnick's pump fake drew two Warriors, leaving the rookie open to land the three-pointer and brought the Golden Hawks ahead 18-17. 

M?? Q1, 3:10: Shooting the lights out in here! pic.twitter.com/Mv0jlCUIcL

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) January 24, 2026

Later, Langenegger cashed in on the and-one after setting up fellow rookie Julien Binzangi on the previous possession. Binzagi had two huge blocks in the final two minutes to keep the Golden Hawks in front to end the quarter at 26-24.  

In the second quarter with the Warriors up by two, Noah Ramsbottom forced the turnover to send Laurier out in transition where Passley dictated the pace and found Joshua Loblaw in tight to level the game at 35. 

After the Warriors got in front by two again, Passley took over in the final three minutes. He went 3-3 from the floor for eight of Laurier's 12 points on their 12-2 run.  

Off a Waterloo missed free throw, Liban Abdalla came away with the rebound and in the dying seconds found Passley who took two dribbles to half court, and instead of settling for a five-point halftime lead, he launched and sank a logo three for the 50-42 lead.  

M?? Q2, 0:00: LOGO THREE FROM ETHAN PASSLEY TO CLOSE THE HALF! pic.twitter.com/LN0UyjKBny

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) January 24, 2026

"It's not just the scoring, but I think the momentum started in his practices this week and taking a step up in leadership," Johson said about Passley. "He reminded the guys of the importance of being physical early, being the first to make contact and imposing themselves on the defensive end. It carried over into the game today." 

"He makes us very dangerous, especially when he gets into his flow because he can attack to get into scoring positions and the fact that he's doing a really good job of seeing what opportunities he can make for his teammates." 

Laurier's three-point shooting had turned a corner after the winter break, improving to 32.7%. What had been keeping them in games during their skid was the separator against the Warriors.  

In the second half, the Golden Hawks went 6-13 from distance while shutting down Waterloo's long ball that went 50% in the first half down to 15.4%, allowing only two three-pointers in the second half.  

The Warriors, however, did not go down without a fight. With under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Warriors went on a 16-2 run that cut Laurier's lead from 19 down to just five points.  

But the Golden Hawks were in the bonus in the final 30 seconds and closed the game out from the line.  

"I told them to remember that we had a similar experience the last time we played them. Reminding the guys that the pressure was coming and just move the ball with confidence," Johnson said.  

"It helped that we put ourselves in a good position with the lead we had, but we don't want that to be the reason we are able to hold onto games. We want to make sure that we're playing basketball and responding to pressure the right way." 

With the win, the Golden Hawks had their best true shooting percentage of the season at 65.6% and were above 50% in both field goal and three-point shooting in the game. Laurier also extended their winning streak over the Warriors to 15 games.  

The Golden Hawks entered the game on the outside looking in to the playoff picture with six games remaining, but the win paired with Ontario Tech's loss and Nipissing idle on Saturday night has them in the 12th and final playoff spot.  

UP NEXT 

The Golden Hawks continue their road trip and head westbound down the 401 to face the #4 Mustangs and Lancers.