MBB | Voyageurs End Weekend with Loss to Mustangs
The Laurentian Voyageurs men's basketball team finished their weekend in southern Ontario with a matchup Saturday night against the Western Mustangs.
Laurentian comes into the game off the back of a loss to the Windsor Lancers the night before while the Mustangs come in at 4-5 on the season and winners of two straight including a win against the Nipissing Lakers the previous day.
Right off the bat the Voyageurs were put on the back foot as the Mustangs quickly came out firing on all cylinders. Laurentian had a decent start themselves but after a few minutes Western really began to take over. The main downfall ended up being foul trouble for Laurentian as the Mustangs would go to line on 15 occasions in the first quarter knocking down 14 of the 15 attempts. This would mean Western would take a commanding 26-15 lead into the second quarter.
The offense woke up a bit for Laurentian in the second quarter and especially for 1st year guard Toby Ezenwa who led the way with 9 points in the second off the bench. However, Western seemed to match them stride for stride and would still carry a 10 point lead into the halftime break.
The third quarter was one to forget for Laurentian as it was Western's Mikyle Malabuyoc who took over in the third scoring 13 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting. Overall, the Mustangs would put up 28 points in the third quarter and extend their lead to 22 going into the fourth.
In the end the game was too far out of reach for the Voyageurs as although they had a decent fourth quarter performance it was never meant to be. Western would go on to win the game 88-71 with Laurentian going winless over the course of the weekend.
The Voyageurs top performer on the day was Toby Ezenwa who finished the game with 18 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assists in just 18 minutes off the bench.
Laurentian comes back home next Saturday night as they play their final home game of 2024 when they take on the Waterloo Warriors at the Ben Avery Gym.
- Andrew Lemieux