Despite the admirable performance on the court, it was a tough pill to swallow last week for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s basketball team.
The Hawks struggled to find their rhythm against a tough Windsor Lancers squad on Wednesday night at the Laurier Athletic Complex as they fell 88-79 in a hard-fought affair, and 81-69 against the Western Mustangs on Saturday.
However, there was some sweetness to the sour night for the Golden Hawks.
Prior to the game, fifth-year guard Max Allin was honoured for collecting 1,500 career points in a five-year career as a Golden Hawk and received a commemorative basketball from the school in his honour.
Laurier failed to build off the energy of the ceremony and only held possession of the lead once in the matchup, which occurred in the first quarter of the game. Allin would also sit out the game with a sprained ankle.
Laurier didn’t have trouble matching the offensive pace of the Lancers, but struggled defensively on the court for most of the game.
“We need to continue improving our team rebounding and defence,” Laurier’s head coach Peter Campbell said on the team’s effort in their own end. “We need to get better production and play from our bench and ensure they are ready to play when they step on the floor.”
The purple and gold trailed the Lancers 38-35 at half, but were unable to mount a comeback.
On the offensive side of the court, second-year Will Coulthard and fourth-year Jamar Forde carried the load. Coulthard dribbled his way to a season-high in points with 26 and Forde chipped in a double-double performance of 20 points and ten rebounds.
Despite the strong offensive performance, the Hawks were unsuccessful on many shot attempts and scoring which resulted in a team shooting percentage of only 37.6 per cent.
“We played well at times, but couldn’t maintain our poise,” said Campbell. “We missed too many easy shots to beat a good team like Windsor.”
Coach Campbell summarized Laurier’s performance as a “disappointing result” against Windsor and hopes for better bench production and shooting success in the upcoming stretch of games.
The Hawks looked to reverse their fortunes on Saturday against the Western Mustangs, but couldn’t overcome the highflying Mustangs and were defeated by a score of 81-69.
The Golden Hawks couldn’t slow down the Mustangs.
Coulthard strung together another strong performance leading the team with 20 points, followed by Allin with 17 points on his return after injury.
Tied after the first quarter, the Golden Hawks fell behind at halftime by 15 points and were never able to climb back from the early deficit.
The game also had a delay, as the gymnasium suffered a minor leak that forced the teams to move to the far practice court for the second half.
The Hawks will look to etch their name in the win column this Wednesday to square off with the Brock Badgers.