In possibly their most exciting game of the year so far, the Lancer men's basketball team gutted out a strong performance against the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday night in Waterloo, but unfortunately lost 98-91.
 
STATS
Six Lancers, including all five starters, hit double digits. Mike Rocca led the team with the games only double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Marcus Jones had 16 points, Anthony Zrvnar had 15, Lucas Orlita and Damian Persaud each had 11, and Lucas Wood had 10 points.
 
Windsor struggled defensively on the glass, being out-rebounded 51-28 at the end of the contest.
 
GAME FLOW
The Lancers were quick off the mark, making three triples in the first two minutes of action to take an early 12-5 lead. However, the hosts started connecting from down deep themselves and managed to hold a 28-23 lead after the first quarter.
 
Up eight at the half, the Hawks continued to lead throughout the third and into the fourth. While thoroughly entertaining, the contest seemed to be stuck in a holding pattern in which the Hawks could not quite pull away to a double-digit lead, but Windsor could not cut the deficit to one possession.
 
That pattern held until about halfway through the fourth when OUA second team all-star Mike Rocca and Marcus Jones brought the Lancers all the way back, taking a two-point lead with under three minutes to play.
 
Unfortunately for the Blue & Gold, Laurier's Tevaun Kokoko had been a consistent force throughout the game and continued that through the final minutes, making a number of clutch shots to lead the Golden Hawks over the Lancers.
 
UP NEXT
Windsor will travel back to Waterloo on Friday to play the Waterloo Warriors at 8:00pm. The game can be seen live at www.oua.tv.