KINGSTON, Ont. (January 25th, 2019) – The Queen's Men's Basketball Team (9-8) defeated the Nipissing Lakers (2-15) 84-75 on Friday night at the ARC Main Gym.
KINGSTON IMPACT NIGHT
GAME FLOW
There was little to separate the two teams in the opening quarter, with neither able to make a three-point shot and the score at 15-14 for the visiting Lakers.
The Gaels did well in the second quarter to kick-start the offence against a Nipissing team that looked to keep things tight and low scoring, putting up 18 points in the quarter (six more than Nipissing's 12) and taking a 32-27 lead at the half.
Leading the way for the Gaels in the first half was
Henry Van Herk with eight points and five rebounds. The Gaels also managed to hold the Lakers scoreless from behind the arc over the first 20 minutes, as Nipissing went 0-8 from three-point land.
The Lakers went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, snatching back the lead briefly before the two teams would trade the lead back and forth for most of the remainder of the quarter. The Lakers went on another run in the final moments of the quarter, securing a hard-fought five-point lead, their largest of the night to that point, as they headed to the final quarter leading 48-43.
With just over three minutes left to play in the final quarter, the Gaels finally managed to make a substantive run of their own, forcing two consecutive Laker turnovers and scoring six unanswered points to tie the game up at 62-62.
The Lakers and Gaels traded shots down the stretch, with both teams having a chance at a game-winning shot, but neither could convert in the closing seconds, and the game headed to overtime with the score tied 66-66.
In overtime, an early
Quinton Gray three-point shot sparked a 7-0 run for the Gaels, who took a commanding 73-66 lead. Although the Lakers would fight back, closing the lead to as few as three points, clutch shooting from
Quinton Gray and
Caelan Scott proved to be the difference in crunch time, as the Gaels would hold on in a thriller for an 84-75 overtime victory.
Leading the way for the Gaels statistically in the OT win was
Jaz Bains with 21 points and
Henry Van Herk with 12 rebounds. Both teams shot very poorly from behind the three-point line (19% for the Lakers and 22% for the Gaels) but the Gaels were clutch from behind the arc when it mattered, which in the end proved to be the difference.
MUST SEE MOMENTS
First basket of the night for Scott.
Van Herk throws down a dunk.
BY THE NUMBERS
28 – The Gaels scored twenty-eight points off nineteen Laker turnovers.
3 –
Caelan Scott scored only three points, but his long-range OT dagger sealed the victory for the Gaels.
53 –Nipissing registered fifty-three rebounds, outrebounding the Gaels by fourteen.
UP NEXT
Tomorrow night (Jan 26th), The Gaels take on the Laurentian Voyageurs at the ARC Main Gym at 8 PM in their Bell Let's Talk game for mental health awareness.
