Lakers’ buzzer beater enough to take down Hawks

The Hawks lost in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday to the Nipissing Lakers.

The game had a dramatic finish, as Lakers guard Ismael Kaba hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, leading Nipissing to a 66-65 victory.

The Hawks appeared to have won as they had possession of the ball with a 2-point lead in the dying seconds of the game.

However, they turned the ball over on the inbound play, which eventually lead to the game-winning shot.

Head coach Justin Serresse talked about what went wrong after the game.

“Again, we rushed our inbound play and we turned it over in a crucial time. But the first half was not good and when you play with fire, you’re eventually going to get burned. And we’ve been playing with fire. It’s a tough way of ending the first semester, but we’re going to get better from this.”

Laurier was down by as many as 11 in the first half, but that did not seem to affect their spirit.

The Hawks are showing that they are a very resilient team with great character, as they have come back from double-digit deficits multiple times already this season.

“It’s not rocket science,” Serresse said.

“You just got to keep focusing on the game plan, follow the game plan, trust the process and then eventually we’re going to get stops. It was a game of runs today. But we have to stop putting ourselves in those positions. Double-digit deficits are just too much, mentally and emotionally.”

This ability to fight back no matter how much they are down by and no matter who they are facing, shows that the Hawks have all the characteristics of a playoff team.

Despite the loss, Laurier got a magnificent performance from starting guard Shamar Burrows.

He put a double-double, scoring 17 points on 8 out of 15 shooting, while grabbing 14 rebounds. Burrows seemed to be everywhere on the court and he was the biggest reason behind the Goldm Hawks comeback.

“He was good. I was waiting for him to figure it out. He did figure it out, today. There were a lot of positives ,today, against a good team” said Serresse of the Nassau native.

But Burrows did not get much help from his teammates, as the Hawks were held to just 32.5 per cent shooting from the field.

The Hawks also turned the ball over 13 times, in what was an overall sloppy effort on offence.

The good news for the Hawks is that they are still on top of the OUA West division, with an impressive record of 5-4.

They had won four straight games before this loss and although this game will be a tough pill to swallow, Laurier’s season has been a successful one so far.