(16/11/24) - Waterloo, ON., The Queen's Men's Basketball team leave Waterloo after a weekend away with two victories added to their growing win-streak of now four games.  After defeating the Waterloo Warriors the previous evening with a whopping 99-60 lead, the Gaels built momentum that drove them through the tough battle against the Laurier Golden Hawks the following evening.  The final score of 93-89, the Gaels and the Hawks battled back and forth the entire game, with the lead never surpassing 11 points.  The Gaels have earned themselves a 99.8 points per game average on the season so far, so the Hawks knew from the beginning they would have to put their best offensive foot forward in order to keep up.  Gaels no. 8 Ollie Engen (Kinesiology) lead the game in points by scoring a total of 30 points on the Hawks.  

The intense game began with the Hawks sinking the ball first.  Going back and forth immediately, the Gaels trailed only by a few points making sure to keep the Hawks within reach.  Engen drained the ball twice from the free-throw line to make it 16-13 Hawks, though the opponents retaliated quickly putting up a score of 20-16.  As the Gaels chipped away at the scoreboard, the Hawks made sure to put up more points.  The end of the first quarter closed with teh Gaels trailing the Hawks 16-24, with Engen taking an early lead on points.

A three pointer by no, 23 Jalen Sikkema (Media) and a layup by no. 3 Luka Syllas (Concurrent-Ed) chased down the Hawks to make it a one shot game 22-24 with the Hawks still dominating early in the second quarter.  Although the Gaels hounded the Hawks in attempt to clear the zone, the Hawks pulled away to take a six point lead, 23-29 with seven minutes left in the second.  The Gaels quickly make a return and come close yet again to matching the Hawks score after Syllas sinks one from the arch and Engen scores a jumper.  With three minutes left in the second the Hawks maintain their lead, and a three-pointer at the buzzer bring the score to 45-34 with the Gaels trailing by 11 points.  Within the second quarter, the Gaels scored 18 points while the Hawks scored 21, illustrating just how tight of a game this was.  Syllas scored a total of seven points in the first half, all of which he accumulated during the second to help the Gaels stay in contention. 

Within the first two minutes of the third quarter, the Gaels cut the Hawks 11 point lead into 2 points with a three-pointer and a layup by no. 15 Isaac Krueger (Arts), and two two's by Engen.  The Hawks come back to the court and looked a tad uninspired as the Gaels froze them at 45 points for the opening minutes of the third.  Tensions began to truly rise to new heights during the final five minutes of the third, as every rebound and block was fought for.  Another layup by Engen brings the game to a one-point deficit for the Gaels, as this seemed to be the story of the evening.  The Gaels would find opportunity's to close in on the Hawks lead by one, just for them to pull away again by a few baskets.  After being down 11 points in the second, the Gaels held on to their comeback throughout the third and continuously applied pressure to the Hawks.  After a basket from the arch by no. 7 Aj Cummings (Arts), the third closed with the Hawks up by one point, 62-61.  The Gaels offensively dominated the third quarter, scoring 27 points compared to the Hawks 17.

A three and a jumper by Engen straight off the bench gives the Gaels the lead of 66-62 immediately after the fourth quarter began.  Neither team was able to go on a break away during the fourth quarter which heightened tensions even further.  The extremely close game saw the lead flip-flop numerous times between teams with one-point being the deficit.  The Gaels managed. to pull away by a three point lead of 78-75 after two layups were sunk by Engen and no. 13 Scott Jenkins (Concurrent-Ed).  A three by Cummings brought the Gaels lead up to six points, though this was chased down quickly by the Hawks bringing the score back to 81-80.  After a slew of successful offensive efforts by the Gaels, with seven points scored by Engen in the final three minutes of the game, the Gaels walk away after a tireless effort with a victory of 93-89.  

As the Queen's Gaels Men's Basketball team claim a four-game win streak, they look to their next game against the University of Toronto Varisty Blues on a momentous stride. Make sure to catch the face-off on November 22, at 8:00 PM, at the Gaels home gym of the Queen's Atheletic and Recreation Facility.