MBB | Comeback Bid Falls Short, Voyageurs Lose to Badgers

The Laurentian Voyageurs men's basketball team faced off against the fifth ranked Brock Badgers on Saturday, losing an extremely close game 85-79 at the Ben Avery Gym.

The first quarter showed everyone in attendance why Brock was ranked where they were. They used their size and strength early on to get easy scores and, within no time, opened up an enormous 18-0 lead. From there, Laurentian finally started to get things going but, by the end of the first, it was a 30-15 lead for Brock.

The second was much more even as both teams began exchanging baskets. After the horrible start to the game, the Voyageurs held their own in the second, shooting nearly 40% from the field. However, the Badgers responded by shooting nearly 65%, 9-14, inside the perimeter and outrebounded the Voyageurs 11-6 to extend their lead to 51-35 going into the break.

As Laurentian came back out for the third quarter, they immediately got the crowd back into the game. Led by 11 points from Kamil Dia Hantchi in the quarter, Laurentian began their potentially incredible comeback. At one point, midway through the third, they went on a 15-4 run and, although they were still behind 69-59 at the end of the third, momentum was without a doubt on Laurentian's side.

Off the back of one of their best quarters of the season, the Voyageurs went out in the fourth with the same purpose. Once more, they went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country and did not back down. Finding themselves down seven points with a minute to go, a three pointer made by Gaëtan Chamand cut it to a four-point deficit. Ethan Cudney then picked up a rebound off a Brock miss and Laurentian went on the fast break, finishing off with a Caillou Lacroix made layup to make it a two-point game with 15 seconds left. However, that is as close as the Voyageurs would come as a combination of Brock hitting their free throws and a three point shot from Laurentian that rimmed out meant the Badgers would hang on for an 85-79 win.

Laurentian standout performers on the night were a career high 21 points for Dia Hantchi and another 20+ point game for Lacroix who finished with 24, putting him fifth in OUA in points per game.

Andrew Lemieux

Laurentian will face the Nipissing Lakers next weekend in a home and home series with the first game Friday night at the Ben Avery Gym at 8pm.