Zain Rashid | Staff Writer
Featured Image: Lions women win both weekend home games while men lose both of theirs. | Courtesy of YorkU Lions
York’s men’s and women’s basketball teams hosted the Waterloo Warriors at Tait Mckenzie on Friday, and the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday. The Lions women won both games easily, extending their winning streak to five games, while the men fought hard, but ultimately lost both games by close margins.
The women’s game against the Warriors began with a three-pointer from York’s Emma Jonas. This set the momentum for the first quarter, as York scored 20 points while holding the Warriors to just six.
York dominated the second quarter as well, scoring another 18 points to take a 22 point lead into halftime.
The Warriors improved in the third and fourth quarters, almost matching the Lions for points, but York maintained their huge lead, finishing the game with a 68-45 victory.
In the men’s game, the Lions played brilliantly, led by DeAndrae Pierre who scored a career high 31 points. However, the Warriors were even better, as they narrowly outscored the Lions in each of the first three quarters to build a six-point lead going into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was a nail-biter, as both teams went bucket for bucket—York’s offence was clicking, as they poured in 29 points. However, they couldn’t get enough stops on the defensive end, as Waterloo scored 28, en route to the 96-91 victory.
York’s women continued their excellent form as they defeated Laurier at home on Saturday to claim their fifth consecutive victory.
Lions’ point guard Hailey Bowie led the charge with several three-pointers as the Lions finished the opening quarter with a 22-17 lead.
Laurier, however, dominated the second quarter to trim the Lions’ lead to a single point at the break,
York turned the momentum in their favour during the third and fourth quarters as they outscored the Golden Hawks 27-12 and 23-17 respectively, to finish the game with a 82-60 victory.
The men’s game on Saturday against Laurier was another closely contested one. Prince Kamunga and Chevon Brown opened the scoring for York contributing to the Lions’ first quarter lead of 22-16.
Laurier went on a run in the second, scoring 23 points while holding York to just 18 to trim the Lions’ lead to a single point at halftime.
The third was an offensive onslaught, as York scored 31 points in the quarter with buckets from Gianmarco Luciani, Brown and Pierre, while Laurier poured in 24 points of their own. York took an eight-point lead into the final quarter.
Unfortunately for York, Laurier made an amazing comeback in the fourth, and shocked everyone—outscoring York by 12 points and ending the game 90-86.
Both Lions teams will be in Thunder Bay next Saturday taking on Lakehead. Tipoff is 6 p.m. for the women, and 8 p.m. for the men.
