WATERLOO, Ont. – The Gryphons men's basketball team continues to bolster their postseason chances in a 78-70 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 8). The Gryphons with the win improves to 7-13 on the season while Laurier drops to 8-12.
In a tightly contested battle throughout most of the afternoon, it was a six-minute stretch to close out the third quarter that proved to be the difference in the game. It would be first-year guard
Jack Tunstill who got the run started for Guelph. Tunstill with the score tied at 39-39, took on his defender and drove to the rim and scored a tough layup with two defenders draped on him to give the visitors the lead. The Gryphs from that point forward outscored the Golden Hawks 15-5 as
Adrian Morra capped off the outstanding stretch for Guelph,
beating the buzzer on a layup after the defence forced the turnover to give the Gryphons a 54-44 lead heading into the fourth. With Laurier cutting the lead down to 70-67, third-year forward
Eric Armstrong would make the biggest shot of the game when he was left open for three and sank it to give Guelph a six point lead with 90 seconds left in regulation as the Gryphs would sweep the home-and-home in their 78-70 win.
Three Gryphons ended the afternoon in double-digits led by
Jack Tunstill's team high 16 points on an efficient 6-8 shooting from the field.
Eric Armstrong finished the day with 14 points and 8 rebounds, including his only three of the game that clinched the win. First-year guard
Isaiah Odle-Clarke scored 13 points to go along with his 3 steals. The Gryphons are still on the outside of the OUA men's basketball playoffs but lurking as they have a chance to play themselves into the 12 team field with two games remaining in the regular season.
The Gryphons will wrap up the regular season schedule with two road games on February 14 and 15 when they're in Sault Ste. Marie to take on the last-place Algoma Thunderbirds (0-20). The opening round of playoffs in OUA men's basketball is set for Wednesday, February 19.
