Lien leads Lancers

 Top Performers

Windsor: Lien Philip  26 pts, 20 rbs, 3 ast 3 stl, 39 min

Victoria: Jeff Cullen 19 pts, 5 rbs, 4,stl 27min

OTTAWA, ON–After trailing at the half, the Windsor Lancers were able to pull it together and produce a big win on the opening game of the House-Laughton Tournament Classic.

Led by the post presence of Lien Philip who recorded a game-high in points with 26 and rebounding high with 20; a gritty, aggressive, pressure-based style helped the Lancers to their first win in the tournament.

After jumping out to an 18 – 13 lead in the first quarter, the game began to get more aggressive and as the tempo picked up, the tide turned on an overwhelmed Victoria team.

 Vikes forward Marco Dolcetti finished with 18 points but wasn’t happy with the second-half effort. “We really handed them the game, they just took advantage of us in the second half,” he explained.

The Vikes looked to be in good position going into the second half after Victoria’s Jeff Cullen came up with the defensive steal to preserve a four-point 36- 32 lead. After the teams re-emerged from the lockers the pace was fast and furious which lent itself to Windsor’s team tempo. The Lancers like to get out and run and be aggressive in taking it to the basket or getting it down low, while the Vikes preferred to try to control the tempo, run plays and work on ball movement.

In a choppy game with many fouls, Windsor’s coach Chris Oliver vocally encouraged his team to play pressure defense while guard Monty Hardware was the vocal leader on the court telling his teammates to “’D’ up!” The Vikes began to look a little winded and were often forced to foul the Lancer players. After Lien Philip grabbed an offensive board and dished to Hardware for a three, the Lancers opened a lead 47-46 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth Lien Philip took over the game both on the glass and in the scoring column. With variety of post moves, the Lancers reached a nine-point lead and the Vikes never successfully regrouped. Philip used jab-step moves in the lane, received a dime pass from Isaac Kuon, and even shot a three to help put it away. Lancers guard Enrico Diloreto iced the game making all three of thee free throws with 1:30 left.

Windsor faces Carleton next, while Victoria will seek redemption against McGill on Saturday as the House-Laughton Classic continues.