TORONTO- Kale Harrison tallied 20 points while his teammate Maxwell Allin added 17, and the Laurier Golden Hawks exploded offensively in the fourth period and broke open what was a tight contest for three quarters, defeating the Ryerson Rams 85-65 on Friday night at Kerr Hall Gym.
Mississauga native Jahmal Jones recorded a game-high 26 points while shooting 10-of-20 from the field in a losing cause for Ryerson, who headed into the final quarter down just a single possession. However, Laurier took over the game from 5:29 of the fourth quarter on, and would score 21 of the contest's last 25 points to seal the win.
"We didn't make shots and they did," stated Head Coach Roy Rana. "For three quarters I thought we were really good, but in the fourth we mentally made mistakes."
The Golden Hawks wasted no time in the opening moments, scoring seven straight points and taking a 10-2 lead within the first 90 seconds of the contest, stunning the home crowd and the Rams.
Ryerson quickly calmed down, and an end-to-end drive by Jones ended with a lay-in while being taken to the ground. He drained his foul shot to help dig into the Laurier lead. The former CIS all-Canadian continued his acrobatics late in the quarter, forcing Harrison to take his third personal while draining another lay-in.
However, after the Rams fouled for the second time on a three-point attempt in the quarter, Laurier re-extended the lead to 20-15 at the end of the first.
The Golden Hawks quickly took a double-digit advantage early in the second with another strong start; going on a 7-2 run that prompted Rana to take a timeout.
The Rams settled down more throughout the quarter and Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.), making his first conference start as a Ram, nailed a three to cut the lead to seven. Luke Staniscia (Pefferlaw, Ont.) then hit back-to-back lay-ups to make it a one-possession contest.
The Rams finally evened the game on another Jones penetration with under a minute to go in the half, notching the game at 33-33. However, a late bucket by Laurier gave them a slight advantage at halftime.
Ryerson tied the game again early on in the second half, and Jordon Gauthier (Windsor, Ont.) hit a three to give the Rams their first lead of the match at 40-37. Best extended the lead with a hard move to the hoop, picking up two points and a foul shot.
Jones continued to stay hot, draining another three but Harrison answered on a couple of occasions to keep Laurier within one possession of tying the match. However, Harrison picked up his fourth personal midway through the third on a charging foul.
The Golden Hawks scored five straight points to re-take the lead with under a minute left in the third, and would notch another bucket to hold a 53-50 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Gauthier had a nice drive for a lay-in, and Jones followed that up with a three to pull Ryerson within one, but another Laurier timely shot provided breathing room on the next possession in the early minutes of the fourth.
There was a possible turning point when Harrison fouled out with just over five minutes left in regulation; however it was the Golden Hawks that found the momentum from that point on.
"We had an opportunity when Harrison fouled out and didn't take advantage of it," said Rana. "We had mental breakdowns (and) offensively we didn't make good choices."
Gauthier was able to nail another three from the deep corner to cut the lead to 64-61, but Kyle Enright responded for Laurier moments later, and the Golden Hawks held an eight-point advantage with 4:42 to go in regulation. The CIS No. 10-ranked squad had full control of the momentum, draining two more buckets to extend the lead into double-digits, and they only padded the lead from there to cruise to their first victory of the season.
Staniscia picked up his first double-double of the season and had a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with 12 points for the Ryerson. The Golden Hawks shot 44% from the field and feasted off Ryerson turnovers, turning 20 Ram's turnovers into 21 points.
The men will return to Kerr Hall Gym tomorrow evening to take on the Waterloo Warriors. Game-time is set for 8:00 p.m. and can be seen online on the Live Video page at www.ryersonrams.ca.
