The strong first half led the Lancer men's basketball team to an 88-75 win over the No. 4 ranked Brock Badgers on Friday night at the Toldo Lancer Centre.
 
The win is the Lancers sixth in a row and moves Windsor to 14-5 on the season as they continue to hold on to first place in the OUA west division.  
 
 
STATS
For the Lancers, Thomas Kennedy led the way with 24 total points and 15 rebounds while Najee Brown-Henderson also had a solid night with an impressive 23 points and 7 assists.
 
The Badgers were led by Jevon Brown making it in the double digits with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
 
GAME FLOW
To begin the opening quarter, the Lancers got off to a strong start as Lorenzo Barbieri connected with Thomas Kennedy to make a quick shot in the paint. Second year Badger Jordan Tchuente answered immediately to gain the lead for Brock with a clean triple. Brown-Henderson saw his first bucket of the game to build Windsor's lead, but Brock would continue to battle for a back and forth opening frame. Going into the first break, the Badgers and Lancers were tied 19-19.
 
The second quarter saw the blue and gold jump in front of the Badgers. Ziphion Grant added a much needed three to extend their gap early in the quarter. On the defensive side, Thomas Kennedy had a huge block that brought up the energy in the Toldo Lancer Centre gym. As the Lancers patiently waited for more scoring opportunities, Najee Brown-Henderson made a perfect pass to Thomas Kennedy to capitalize on a huge dunk that sent the crowd out of their seats. As Kascius Small-Martin made attempts to challenge Xavier Ochu in the paint, he pulled a spin move that sent Brock into a timeout. That final minute consisted of more stop and go basketball and Yohann Sam would score the final shot off the glass for two before the buzzer. The blue and gold led 55.6% in field goals in comparison to the visitors 30.4% at that point. At the half, Windsor led 42-35.
 
After the break, the Lancers' Xavier Ochu started the third with a triple to kick the team into high gear. As the blue and gold showcased their strong offense and defense, the Badgers continued to keep their foot on the gas and respond with intensity. Active on defense, Brock applied pressure in hopes of cutting Windsor's 13-point lead. However, Najee Brown-Henderson's triple triggered the Lancer fans to roar in support of the team and kept their momentum going. Halfway through the quarter, the Badgers continued to pull together their best plays even with the scoring in favour of the home team. Ziphion Grant and Yohann Sam's threes extended Windsor's lead to 26 and the Lancers had the upper hand 74-48 heading into the fourth quarter.
The blue and gold picked up the pace to 61.1% in field goals meanwhile the Badgers had trouble making baskets with 31.3 FG%.
 
In the last quarter, the teams put it all on the line as Windsor and Brock knew they would battle it out to the final buzzer. As the physicality increased between the two teams, the Lancers were called for two back-to-back fouls as the Badgers began to apply pressure. With the aggression, each team had their fair share of fouls and Thomas Kennedy was sent to the line for a couple free throws to add two and end the Badgers 17-point run. Into the final stretch, Najee Brown-Henderson hit a three with 3 minutes left on the clock to put the Lancers ahead for good. Found uncovered, Thomas Kennedy put the cherry on top of the game with a huge dunk and the Lancers took over the court with a 88-75 win to end the match-up.
 
UP NEXT
Windsor will travel up to Guelph to face the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, February 11th at 8:00 pm following the women's game. You can watch the teams battle it out on OUA.tv.