GUELPH, Ont. – Wednesday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons men's basketball team suffered a 83-65 loss to the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks. The Gryphons were never able to recover after being outscored 26-6 by the Hawks during the 2nd quarter. Over the course of the remaining three quarters, Guelph actually outscored Laurier 59-57 with senior guard Jonathan Wallace leading the Gryphons offensively with a team-high 17 points. U of G sophomore forward Banky Alade was close behind Wallace, finishing with 14 points and 9 rebounds in the loss. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 3-10 on the season while Laurier improves to 5-8.
 
The Gryphons, who were returning home after splitting a pair of weekend games in Thunder Bay versus Lakehead, came out shooting the ball well early on Wednesday evening, knocking down 53% of their shots from the field in the opening quarter to take a 20-18 lead into 2nd. From there, however, it was all Laurier, as the Hawks would take over, ending the opening half on a 20-4 run to take an 18-point lead into the break. The Golden Hawks were led by the recently named U SPORTS Male Athlete of the Week, Tevaun Kokko. The sophomore guard, who four days ago came off the bench to score a career-high 30 points versus Windsor, was once again on offensively. Kokko scored 15 of his 19 points in the opening half and was good from beyond the arc on three different occasions.
 
The Gryphons were unable to trim the deficit back down to single digits in the second half despite shooting 48% from the floor as a team over the final two quarters. Despite the loss, the Gryphons remain locked in a playoff race in the wide open OUA West division. Next up for the Gryphons, a Saturday night matchup with the Windsor Lancers who sit one spot about the Gryphs in the standings. Windsor (4-8) will visit the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre on Saturday night in what will be the second game of a back-to-back following their Friday night tip at the University of Waterloo. The Gryphons and Lancers game on Saturday tips at 8pm and can be seen live online at oua.tv.