WATERLOO, Ont. - It was a night of celebration for the Golden Hawks as they honoured the graduating class of student-athletes in the final home game of the regular season.
The Golden Hawks officially clinched a playoff spot the night before as Ontario Tech lost to Queen's, but manager of men's basketball operations and head coach Cavell Johnson said that "we have work to do ... we have a job to do first," before the team could do any celebrating.
And the Golden Hawks got to work and got the job done, beating the visiting York Lions 89-76.
Right out of the gates, the Golden Hawks were dominant. After York cashed in on the first bucket of the game, Laurier went on a 10-0 run featuring back-to-back threes from Mark Pohner and Ethan Passley who crossed the timeline and hit nothing but net.
The Golden Hawks limited the Lions to just 10 points in the opening quarter, and a large part of that was the 12 rebounds that kept York to single possessions. The home side led 27-10 after ten.
It was a different story in the second quarter as York found their rhythm. After the Golden Hawks extended the lead to 18, York went on a 9-0 run to bring it back down to single digits.
Laurier took the momentum back off two made free throws from Malik Langenegger, closing the quarter on a 12-2 run. The rookie Langenegger took the wheel and stopped the car from fishtailing. He had three assists in just under four minutes, teaming up with big man Hazara Jawanda on the pick and roll, and scored easily at the rim.
The Golden Hawks went into halftime up 19 at 47-28.
York kept putting pressure on the purple and gold in the second half, outscoring the Golden Hawks 48-42.
To start the third, Passley drove the paint and kicked out to Aidan Whalen, who rose above the defender and sank the three-pointer.
Whalen had a team high 19 points on 5-7 shooting from the field with three threes, and he also grabbed eight boards. One of Whalen's strengths this season has been his ability to get to the free throw line, and he did that, going 6-6 from the stripe.
"He gets right in there, and when he's knocking them down, it's even better," Johnson said. "He did a good job getting some interior presence. It's good to see him knock down a few threes in the second half. Just Mr. Man being solid."
The Lions went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter, but the Golden Hawks still led 68-53.
York kept getting into foul trouble in the fourth and had 21 team fouls by the game's end. The Golden Hawks made 26 free throws, equaling their number of made field goals.
Despite York's second half push, the lead was too much to overcome and the Golden Hawks capped off the regular season on a high note.
Yet Johnson was not too pleased with how it turned out, saying, "When you're trying to be sharp, build situational awareness, build focus, build execution to get ready to go into the playoffs, I can't be overly excited about the win in its totality. Winning the right way is better."
The celebrations continued for the graduating Golden Hawks who possibly played their final game on home court.
"It's been a journey," Passley said. "This is by far the best team I've played with. These guys are just selfless. Everybody's basically willing to die for the next guy beside them. We're leaving our mark."
Passley finished his regular season career with 987 points, putting him eighth in Laurier's all-time program history. In 78 games, he ranks fifth in most field goals (396), seventh in assists (262), and seventh in steals (120).
He had 12 points, four rebounds, and five assists against York.
Whalen also spoke on his time with the Golden Hawks, "For me, coming in a couple years ago, it's been a dream come true for me to come play for Laurier. I'm really excited for what we can do in the playoffs."
Quietly, Jawanda had himself a game as well, setting a new career high in both rebounds with 12 and points with eight.
UP NEXT
The Golden Hawks head up to the nation's capital to face the #6-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees in the first round of the playoffs.
THANK YOU, SENIORS!
#4 – Mark Pohner
#6 – Ethan Passley
#12 – Aidan Whalen
#13 – Hazara Jawanda
