MBB | Laurentian’s Strong Defense Leads to Big Win Over Lakers
After a massive win on Saturday against the Queen's Gaels the Laurentian Voyageurs men's basketball team was back in action Wednesday night as they took on their fierce rivals from down Highway 17 the Nipissing Lakers.
The Voyageurs were coming into this game looking for revenge at home after their previous meeting ended with a Laker victory in North Bay.
Early on it was the Lakers who got out to an early 7-0 lead. From there though Laurentian started to pick things up. After Nginyu Ngala got the Voyageurs going, knocking down a three Laurentian would pick up seven consecutive points of their own to bring the game even. The quarter would continue to be back and forth before Laurentian would grab a late bucket to take their first lead of the game at 14-13 which would be the score at the end of the first.
Laurentian extended its lead by outscoring Nipissing 18-14 in the second quarter, fueled by improved ball movement and defensive stops. Shawn Barthelemy provided a spark off the bench, finishing the half with seven points. The offense overall stayed consistent hitting timely shots when needed. On the other side of the court despite Nipissing's struggles from three being held at 0% in the second quarter, they stayed in the game with second-chance points holding Laurentian's halftime lead at just 32-27.
The Voyageurs widened the gap slightly, winning the third quarter 15-12 behind consistent play from Ngala who had eight of his game high 17 points in the third. The major story of the third quarter was. Laurentian's defense. It clamped down, forcing more turnovers and limiting Nipissing's perimeter shooting to just 1-6 in the third. This meant that although the Laurentian offense took a step back they still managed to take a 47-39 lead heading into the final frame.
Laurentian matched Nipissing's 14 points in the fourth, preventing any comeback attempts. The Voyageurs' defensive dominance, leading to 21 points off turnovers, sealed the victory. With a 61-53 win, Laurentian improves to 10-11 on the season and continues to gain some much needed momentum going into the OUA playoffs.
Ngala finished with a team-high 17 points, while Barthelemy and Daniel Muila-Mwaka added key contributions in both the scoring and defensive departments as well.
The Voyageurs will cap off the regular season at home Saturday night at 8pm when they welcome the Lakehead Thunderwolves to the Ben Avery Gym.
- Andrew Lemieux