MBB - Voyageurs suffer another loss to Badgers

The men's basketball team traveled to St. Catharine's on Friday to take on the Brock Badgers. While the men showed a great effort, they suffered another loss due to turnovers and mistakes in the third and fourth quarters.

In the first quarter, Voyageurs guard Kamil Dia Hantchi scored first with a layup, followed by a layup by Caillou Lacroix and Cedric Mbiaba. The Voyageurs got an early three-point lead, which led to a timeout call by the Badgers. Later on, Pierre Mukandila suffered a foul while driving to the net, resulting in two made free throws, and Ismael Konate and Ahmad Cidi-Jalloh netted one free throw themselves. With less than two minutes left, Hantchi scored a 3-pointer and Daniel Muila made two free throws. Although the Voyageurs got an early lead, the Badgers came back and were up 19-15.

In the second quarter, Hantchi scored first once again, while Mukandila scored a 3-point shot and Muila scored a layup. These 7 points led to another timeout call by the Badgers. At the third-minute mark, Mukandila and Mbiaba each scored 2 points. The last minute was crucial to the Voyageurs, as they wanted to go into halftime with momentum on their side. Lacroix and Hantchi both sunk a 3-pointer to equalize the game at 32-a-piece, giving them energy going into halftime. 

Coming back from halftime, Konate scored two layups within a minute, Mbiaba scored a 3-point shot and Chikosi Boardi scored 3 points. Even though the Badgers kept answering to Laurentian's baskets, the men refused to let up, as shown by Muila who scored two layups, and Keenan Morain who scored 2 points to finish the quarter. The men were behind by one point going into the last 10 minutes.

In the last quarter, the Voyageurs had trouble with turnovers and mistakes, which cost them several points. Mbiaba added 3 points to the board within two minutes and Mukandila scored a single free throw. The Badgers got away from the Voyageurs, scoring over 20 points in under five minutes. The last layup of the game was scored by Muila, assisted by Hantchi. The Voyageurs lost the match 70-56.

The standout performers were Kamil Dia Hantchi with 12 points and 5 rebounds, Daniel Muila with 10 points and 5 rebounds, and Cedric Mbiaba also with 10 points. Special mention goes out to Caillou Lacroix who finished the game with 5 points and 10 rebounds.

The Voyageurs will host the Algoma Thunderbirds on Sunday afternoon in the Ben Avery. Tip-off is scheduled for 2pm.

-Madison Boileau