Saturday 8 January 2011

Laurier 114, Waterloo 82

If a bounce back game was ever needed for the newly-ranked (at least by this site) Laurier Golden Hawks, the set-up for this afternoon's contest at home had all the elements:  cross-town rival Waterloo Warriors in town, large, boisterous crowd in attendance and the spectre of Wednesday's upset loss at McMaster, which the Hawks had disposed of in last season's OUA West playoffs in upset fashion.  The Hawks responded with full energy from start to finish, bringing back memories of the ABA and the old San Antonio Spurs in a 30+ point drubbing of the Warriors in which Laurier pushed the ball in transition at every opportunity, played fast and energized and shooting a "wild west"-like 16 for 38 from beyond the arc, creating 20 Waterloo turnovers while turning it over only 11 times themselves.

Continuing to make the case that he is hands-down the top freshman in the OUA West and rapidly entering the case for National honours, 6'6" Patrick Donnelly had 32 points (5-8 3's 11-18 shooting overall), 15 rebounds and 7 assists to lead Laurier (7-3 in OUA West).  Donnelly got 7 of his boards on the "o" glass where Laurier also dominated with 22 as the Hawks outrebounded Waterloo 46-34, using their size and strength to dominate inside. 

6'6" Max Allin added 18 for Laurier including three 3's in a 3 1/2 minute stretch of the first quarter when the Hawks pulled off a 17-2 run to immediately establish the kind of tempo they wanted to play at.  Ultimately Hawks grew leads as large as 16 in the first quarter, scoring 39 points in the opening frame and led 61-47 at the half.

The Warriors made their only real run of the game at the start of the third and when 6'3" Cam McIntyre knocked in a 3 and 6'6" Brendan Smith followed with a transition dunk, Waterloo had it to with 7 at 66-59.  But the Hawks turned it up again as Waterloo then turned it over on 4 consecutive possessions which ignited a 24-5 Laurier run culminated in a buzzer beating three by 6'5" Kale Harrison (19 points) and Laurier led 90-64 after three.  The highlight of the fourth was a late game, house-raising slam by Hawks Jamar Forde giving the Hawks a 35 point lead.  6'6" Alan Goodhoofd had 19 points and 10 rebounds and a pair of jams of his own in which was a game showing off the skills and athleticism both of these teams possess.

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