Posted: Feb 17, 2017
MBB | Voyageurs Take Regular Season Finale
The Voyageurs Men's Basketball will head into their playoff game with a victory, defeating the Algoma Thunderbirds 87-64 in their final game of the regular season. The win lands the Vee's with a record of 9-10 on the season. The Voyageurs are locked into the #7 seed and will host a first round playoff game on Wednesday, February 22nd.
After getting off to a slow start the Laurentian offense was able to right the ship en route to their 87 point outing. Early on, the team seemed to be a step behind in almost all facets of the game but the men found their footing and took over the game, outscoring the Thunderbirds in each of the final three quarters and out-rebounding Algoma 45-31 in the game.
After running into foul trouble in the first half, leading scorer Kadre Gray was able to put up another big scoring effort in the 2nd half. Hard drives to the hoop led to Gray taking 14 free throws, knocking down 13 of them, leading to a game high 30 points.
For the Thunderbirds it was weak shooting from the field and the stripe, 34.2% and 58.3% respectively, that plagued them in the contest.
Going into the playoffs, the Vee's will need to compliment Gray's scoring with tenacious defense and good ball distribution if they hope to make a deep run to the OUA Final Four.
As of writing this article, Laurentian would host the Laurier Golden Hawks in the first round, however, if Laurier falls to Lakehead tomorrow night, it will be the Queen's Gaels coming to the Ben Avery. Regardless of their opponent, the Voyageurs will open the playoffs on Wednesday night with tip-off scheduled for 8pm.
Stay up-to-date with the Voyageurs by following @LUVoyageurs on Twitter.
Cedric Junor
Sports Writer