The Windsor Lancers men's basketball team visited the Laurier Golden Hawks on Wednesday night in Waterloo.  Heading into the rare weekday contest both teams were sitting first and second respectively in the OUA West division with first place on the line.  Ultimately it was the Golden Hawks who emerged victorious handing the Lancers a 77-75 loss. 
 
Xavier Ochu had 21 points and 9 rebounds for the Lancers while Najee Brown-Henderson had 16 points and 4 assists in the in the heartbreaking loss. 
 
Laurier was led by Taye Donald who had 20 points in the nail-biting win that was secured by the late game heroics of Majok Deng's two free throws made that sealed the deal for the home team with under two seconds left to play in the fourth quarter. 
 
GAME FLOW
In the first quarter, the Lancers were able to hold the lead for most of the frame thanks in large part to their quick offence-to-defence transitional plays which allowed them to maintain an advantage throughout the quarter.  The blue and gold closed out the first quarter with a 17-15 lead. 
 
In the second quarter, both teams came storming out of the gate with great back-and-forth runs from both squads elevating the tempo of the game.  Laurier managed to snag the lead and flip the script from the first quarter holding possession of the lead throughout the majority of the second.  The Golden Hawks broke open a lead as high as 5-points with the Lancers locking in down the stretch to keep the deficit within reasonable distance trailing 38-36 by halftime. 
 
At the end of the first half, Brown-Henderson had 10 points for the Lancers while Laurier's Ben Stevens also had 10 points to help support his team's slender lead. 
 
In the third quarter, the Lancers were able to come out and reduce the Laurier lead making more buckets and buckling down defensively. Channelling a newfound focus to want to battle back into the game, the Lancers were able to cut the Golden Hawks' lead to seven to end the third quarter 59-52 and gain momentum heading into the fourth.
 
In the fourth quarter, the action saw both teams exchanging scoring opportunities as both teams ran up and down the floor trading shots and seeing enhanced offence produced.  The Lancers predominantly were the story of the final quarter overcoming the Laurier lead in the late stages of the quarter to go up one point on a couple occasions but not without a response from Laurier who managed to storm back with equalizers and a one basket lead, but the Lancers would go on to knot up the score at 75-75. 
 
However, a sloppy defensive foul from the blue and gold with two seconds left in regulation sent Deng to the charity stripe to deliver the game winning daggers that slashed the hopes of overtime basketball or a Lancer comeback.  The unfortunate sequence of events cost the Lancers the opportunity to improve their season record which now drops to 7-4 on the year.
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers will be back in action again this weekend at home when they host the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday January 14, 2023, at 6:00pm from the Toldo Lancer Centre.  Tickets are still available for the game and can be purchased online at goLancers.ca/tickets or at the TLC box office.  For fans unable to make the game you can tune into the action from the gym which will be broadcasted live on OUA.tv.  Also, you can follow along with live updates on social media including Twitter throughout the game.