The Nipissing Lakers men’s basketball team played six good quarters this weekend, unfortunately the two they struggled in decided the game.
Friday night against Brock, it happened in the third quarter and Saturday, it was the second quarter that sunk another strong effort for the first year program.
McMaster ended up with an 83-53 victory, a score not indicative of the way the game went, but the final after it was all said and done.
After leading 17-15 after the first quarter, things went south for Nipissing in the second, as they struggled to find the basket.
A strong third quarter gave them some hope, but in the fourth, they ran out of gas and ended up losing to the Marauders.
St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Bears graduate Jordan Roberts had a very strong game, putting up 14 points and Wil Konybai shot well, scoring 10. Three other Lakers – Joey Puddister, Marcos Clennon and Jordon Campbell – all chipped in with six.
McMaster had a balanced attack with five players hitting double digits in their win.
The Lakers will look to take advantage of what they hope will be an intense northern rivalry with both Laurentian and Algoma, as the Lakers face both of them next weekend.
Friday, Nipissing welcomes their neighbours from Sudbury to town and Sunday, they hit the road and travel to Sault Ste. M
Women's Basketball
There’s no question the Nipissing Lakers women’s basketball team wants to pick up that elusive first win, but as they’ve alluded to before, there’s more to their progress than wins and losses.
The team has continued to earn small victories throughout games and throughout weekends, which has helped the team move forward in a number of different areas.
The Lakers fell to the McMaster Marauders 86-34 Saturday night, but once again, will find positives to build on moving forward into two northern matchups next weekend.
The Marauders came out shooting pretty well and built up a 17-6 lead after the first quarter and extended that lead in the second with a strong second.
The Lakers did have their best offensive quarter in the second, scoring 12 points, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap.
In the second, McMaster put things out of reach with a strong final 20 minutes.
The Lakers were once again led by the strong shooting of Claire Abbott, who put up 14 points.
They also got contributions from Mackenzie Bahm and Leisa Wierenga who scored seven points apiece.
Looking forward, the Lakers will prepare for the Shoot for the Cure game next Friday at home against their northern rivals, the Laurentian Voyageurs.
On Sunday, the team will hit the road and head to Sault Ste. Marie for a makeup game against Algoma, which was to be the team’s first ever game way back in November that was reschedule to Sunday, Jan. 25.
Algoma is winless on the season and is in a similar building stage as Nipissing.
Both games next weekend should begin what the programs are hoping is a strong rivalry between all three northern schools.
Game time Friday is 6:00 p.m. at the Nipissing Gym.
Submitted to BayToday.ca
