GUELPH, Ont. - Getting their first chance to play a 2019 regular season game on their own home court, the Guelph Gryphons could not be stopped Saturday night at the GGAC. Led by their two starting guards, the Gryphons did not have much trouble as they earned a 96-71 victory over the York Lions.

With 5th-year guard Tommy Yanchus scoring 27 points, and 3rd-year guard Malcolm Glanville pouring in another 27 points, the Gryphons were able to let their two experienced leaders carry the flow of the offence all night.

Having dug themselves a bit of a hole Friday in Kingston, and having to recover from a 21 point deficit, albeit in a loss ultimately, Guelph made sure not to use the same script for their start on Saturday. 

The Gryphons were able to get themselves out in front 20-7 midway though the opening quarter, which got the hometown crowd behind them in a very loud fashion early on. Guelph continued to give the home fans plenty to cheer about the rest of the way as well, as they kept building their lead more and more for most of the contest. Guelph went on to outscore the Lions 53-37 over the next two quarters of play, giving them a 29 point advantage heading into the final ten minutes.

Hustling all night, the Gryphons used their defence to lead to all other aspects of their game. They Gryphons held the Lions to just 34.3 percent shooting from the field in the game, which allowed Guelph to get out in transition and reward their defensive efforts with points on the other end. Outworking York on the glass as well, the Gryphons were able to generate 14 second chance points to the Lions two.

"We were fired up, and we knew we had great character on this team and we would respond (from Friday's loss to Queen's)," said Gryphon's head coach Chris O'Rourke. "Defensively, I thought we really set the tone in the first quarter and the third quarter holding them to 15 points in both, which I think was a positive."

"We were a lot more locked in defensively and it helped us turn defence into offence all night," said O'Rourke.

With the win, Guelph improved their early season record to 1-1. They will now hit the road for a pair of games over the weekend. On Friday night, they will travel to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers before going to Hamilton on Saturday to battle the McMaster Marauders.