The Lancer men's basketball team swept their weekend visit to the GTA with a pair of wins over the TMU Bold and Toronto Varsity Blues.
 
Windsor squeaked out a 97-95 overtime victory over the Bold on Friday night, and followed that up with an 85-78 win on Saturday over the Blues at the Goldring Centre.
 
FRIDAY
Najee Brown-Henderson put on a show contributing 28 total points and making 5 out of 9 3PT while fifth year Thomas Kennedy finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds to secure the win.
 
In the opening quarter, the Bold made their mark first as they got up on the scoreboard. The keys to game for the blue and gold would be to contain turnovers and ensure they made a clear offensive presence on the court. Making his way through TMU traffic, Kennedy forced a turnover to grab his first couple of points of the night. Staying with the Bold, the Lancers Daniel Cummings secured a triple to help close the gap to 5. Windsor shot 35% from the field while the Bold shot 45%. At the end of the quarter, the blue and gold were down 24-19.
 
The second quarter saw the Lancers hit the court with an increase in confidence as Xavier Ochu shot a midrange jumper and displayed his leadership for the team to move in the right direction. Later on, Yohann Sam would steal the ball out of the Bold's Isaiah McRae's pass and capitalized the play with a good layup. The blue and gold hit a rut in their scoring action as they fell into some troubles in getting the basket to fall in their favour. Heading into the locker room at the half, the Lancers continued to trail the Bold 42-36.
 
In the third quarter, Windsor was able to better assert themselves offensively and find better options. Lorenzo Barbieri was able to draw a foul for a free throw that caused some controversy from the TMU bench, however the shot helped keep the Lancers within striking distance. Driving towards the basket, the blue and gold gained their first lead of the game with seven minutes left on the clock and Brown-Henderson established it with long-range shot. As Windsor did an impressive job at dealing with the pressure, their strong performance on the slow comeback showed. Windsor held the lead 61-53.
 
Battling it out, Windsor and TMU continued to go back and forth as Lorenzo Barbieri provided the offensive spark with a basket outside the arc to make it an 8-point game. A bucket from Daniel Cummings would stretch their lead to 8-points. The final minutes saw the Bold close the gap to a 1-point game and the game would be stretched into overtime at a 80-80 tie.
 
Putting in their best effort, the Lancers put it all on the line as they entered overtime. Ochu stole the ball to connect with Brown-Henderson to grab another three. Making an impossible pass, Ochu sent it again to Kennedy to feed the ball off the glass and put them up by two. The Bold tied the game again, and down to the final seconds, Brown-Henderson fired off a shot as the buzzer sounded lift the Lancers to a 97-95 victory.
 
SATURDAY
Thomas Kennedy contributed 20 total points and 12 rebounds while Najee Brown-Henderson also made a strong impact with 18 total points.
 
Coming out fast and furious, the Lancers finished the first quarter up 28-12 and carried that momentum into the second. By the half, the Lancers had cemented themselves a 15-point lead, up 50-35.
 
After halftime, the Blue's Callum Baker started the quarter off with a midrange jumper determined to cut the Lancer's lead. For a good take to the rim, Thomas Kennedy threw it down with emphasis that Windsor was on the offensive attack. After a right-hand layup, Daniel Cummings would send Toronto into a timeout as they continued to trail by 15 points. Making it almost impossible for the Varsity Blues to find a good rhythm, Xavier Ochu found himself uncovered and hit a three from outside the perimeter. Windsor held on 69-58 with one more quarter to go.
 
In the final quarter, Toronto would go on a run making three consecutive shots and putting the Lancer defense to work. In the final two minutes of the game the scoring remained close with the Lancers up by just six points. Although Toronto made a close effort to claw back, Windsor would edge the Varsity Blues 85-78 to end the night.
 
UP NEXT
The blue and gold will host the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, February 4th for Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00pm and tickets for the event can be purchased in advance at goLancers.ca/tickets. Commemorative breast cancer t-shirts will be available for sale at the event for just $15, with proceeds going to cancer research.