MBB | Ridgebacks Outpace Voyageurs

The Laurentian Voyageurs men's basketball team played their penultimate game of the season at home on Friday where they would fall to the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks by a score of 79-70.

The Voyageurs came out of the gates flying, as center, Cedric Mbiaba, and guard, Caillou Lacroix, led them to 24 first quarter points while holding their opponents to just 13. It seemed like everything was going right for Laurentian, nailing six three-point shots in the quarter and only allowing two turnovers, putting them in complete control through the first quarter.

The second was the complete opposite as the Voyageurs' shooting went cold and things began to fall apart a little bit. The turnovers ramped up to six in the second quarter, leading to easy Ridgeback scores and, even worse, nine team fouls in the second allowed Ontario Tech to go 10-13 from the free throw line. Within no time, the big lead that Laurentian had built in the first was reversed as the Ridgebacks took the lead into half time, up 40-39.

In the second half, Laurentian knew they had to pick up the pace and try to return things to where they were in the first quarter. For a while, they were able to hang around Ontario Tech, retaking the lead early in the third and exchanging baskets for most of the quarter until a late flurry of Ridgebacks scores put Ontario Tech back in firm control of the game, up six going into the fourth.

From there, Ontario Tech would not look back as they held Laurentian at arm's length for the entire fourth quarter and came away with the 79-70 victory over the Voyageurs.

Laurentian was led by an outstanding 20 point 17 rebound performance from Cedric Mbiaba and 34 points from Caillou Lacroix putting him second in OUA scoring, averaging 22 points per game on the season.

The Voyageurs round out their season with their final home game of the season up against the Queen's Gaels Saturday night at the Ben Avery with tip-off set for 8pm.

Andrew Lemieux