Lancers top Lords

Durham’s Kenesha Stinchcombe-Brown reaches for the ball past Lancers guard Martine Gauvin. Photo by Taylor Renkema.

By Taylor Renkema
Courtesy of The Varsity Voice

Ryan Barbeau’s team led by 21 points at halftime, but the final score was much closer than he would have liked.

The Loyalist men’s basketball team faced off against Durham last night, coming out with a 75-66 win over the Lords.

“Tonight for some reason it was like ‘oh, we’re playing a not-so-great team so we’re just not going to play hard,” he said. “But, a win’s a win, so we just get out of here and move on.”

The Lady Lancers were also in action, clobbering the Lords 72-35.

Durham’s men team outscored Loyalist 42-30 in the second half and cut the lead to just six points, but the Lancers held on for the win.

Durham guard Randy Osei pushes around Loyalist’s Pat Kalala in action on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Photo by Taylor Renkema.

Matt Miller led the way for Loyalist with a game-high 17 points and eight boards. His teammate Brayden Gohn had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lancers play their final home game on Friday, Feb. 8, against the Algonquin Thunder, who sit third in the league with a 12-3 record. Loyalist is currently in fifth place with 11 wins and six losses this season.

The first-place team in the OCAA Men’s East Division, Seneca, has 28 points, while the Lancers have 22 points with three games left in the regular season. The top six teams make playoffs.

Barbeau said his team will need to step it up if they’re going to be a contender against a top team.

“If we play like tonight we’re going to get pounded,” he said. “We just need to be tough, we need to execute what were doing.”

The men’s championships are being held at Seneca College this year, from Feb. 28-Mar. 2.

Barbeau said despite the win, he was not impressed with how his team played.

“We didn’t play with any intensity, we didn’t play basketball the way we have been playing lately, which has been really good,” he said.

Lancers Sam Goff and Alex Aguiar try to block Durham’s Kelsey Hare during a game on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Photo by Taylor Renkema.

In women’s action, The Lords defense couldn’t control Lancer guard Jenni Thompson, who had 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in the victory.

The Lady Lancers have won five of their last six games and sit third in the OCAA East Division with a 10-5 record. Durham has dropped three straight and is currently in ninth place with a 3-12 record.

The Loyalist women’s team has 20 points, eight behind top-seeded Algonquin. The sixth-place team, Centennial, has 14 points. The championships are held at Humber College Feb. 28-Mar. 2.