Posted: Feb 22, 2017
MBB | Voyageurs Paint Their Way to the Second Round
The Voyageurs Men's Basketball team opened their playoff run with an 88-72 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks. An strong uptempo attack in the paint led Laurentian to the win. The team will travel to Ottawa this weekend to take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the second round of the Wilson Cup Playoffs.
From the tip it was evident that the Vee's game plan was to attack the paint and exploit Laurier's weak interior defense. With each offensive possession seemingly taking seconds, the uptempo attack caught the Golden Hawks defense on their heels. Laurier's offense looked attached to the long ball early, and with good reason, sinking eight threes in the game.
The three point shot seemed to escape Laurentian, who made up for it with their strong paint penetration, shooting 45.7% from the field in the first half. The bulk of Laurier's first half points came off of second chance points. With 12 offensive rebounds for the Golden Hawks in the first half, the Voyageurs needed to find a way to stop the leak.
The second half saw both teams go shot for shot, with Laurier never letting the Voyageurs pull away however, after both teams tacked 24 points on the board in the third quarter, the Voyageurs took a nine point lead into the final frame.
The acrobatic play of Kadre Gray and David Aromolaran inside the paint led the way for the Voyageurs, who shot an outstanding 71.4% from the field in the final 10 minutes. The duo poured in 49 of Laurentian's 88 points on the night. With the lead increasing and time decreasing the Golden Hawks' ability to score seemed to dissipate with the clock.
The Voyageurs helped themselves throughout the night, converting 20 of 22 attempts from the charity stripe. Gray led the way with a game-high 26 points, adding 8 rebounds and 3 assists while Aromolaran chipped in with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Nelson Yengue also had a big night, getting his fifth double-double of the season, 14 points and 10 boards, while adding two timely blocks in the contest.
Victory road leads LU to Ottawa to take on the second seeded Gee-Gees with tip-off scheduled for Saturday, February 25th at 3PM. Tune in to OUA.tv to catch all the action.
Stay up-to-date with the Voyageurs by following @LUVoyageurs on Twitter.
Cedric Junor