UNB Picks Up Victory Over Laurier Behind Daniel Quirion, Exit Ontario on Winning Note

Top Performers

UNB:

Daniel Quirion – Pts: 20, Reb: 1, Ast: 6, Stl: 4, Min: 34

Alex DesRoches – Pts: 16, Reb: 7, Ast: 0, Stl: 1, Min: 27

Laurier:

Matt Buckley – Pts: 20, Reb: 4, Ast: 0, Stl: 2, Min: 26

OTTAWA,ON- UNB defeated Laurier 82-76 in their final game of the tournament ensuring that they did not go winless in their trip to Ottawa.

For UNB it was Alex DesRoches scoring twice early and the Varsity Reds opened an early 6-0 lead.

Speaking with NPH after the game, DesRoches explained “We’re just trying to build team chemistry, we’ve got a lot of new guys, seven new bodies this year. Before this we’ve only played four games this pre-season so we’re trying to build chemistry and get ready for our season that starts in two weekends.”

After Colin Swift hit a three-pointer for UNB, Pat Donnelly and Conor Meshino tied the game at 10 for Laurier and UNB coach Brent Baker was assessed a technical foul for criticising the referees.

Post-game, coach Baker said “we want to improve. We played nine or ten deep today, but the other part is for our guys to get some growth, get them on a bus, get them facing some different teams, get them on the road. You find out who can play and who can’t play when you go on the road because anybody can win at home.”

When play resumed UNB played inspired basketball and after a three-pointer by Robert Linton and a lay-in from Dustin Anthony, UNB led 25-17 at the end of the first quarter.

UNB continued to increase their lead in the second quarter thanks to Daniel Quirion, Jordan Irvine, and Seth Amoah, and led 45-30 en route to a 45-34 halftime lead.

Seth Amoah and Daniel Quirion continued to score in the second half, but Travis Berry and Matt Buckley (who had 10 points in the third quarter) brought Laurier back within striking range, down 54-47, but trailed 63-54 heading into the final quarter.

Matt Buckley was Laurier’s biggest contributor, logging over thirty minutes in each of the three games in this tournament. He told NPH “we’re missing three of our rotation guys. Kale Harrison is playing at the Pan Am games, Max Allen is at a wedding, and Jamar (Forde) dislocated his ankle and he’s our sixth man off the bench.” In their absence, Buckley played well, but couldn’t will his team to a win on this night.

Laurier’s Pat Donnelly hit a tough two to make it a 75-69 defecit, but that’s as close as the Golden Hawks got. Alex DesRoches closed out the game with defensive rebounding and solid box-outs, and he also found a way to score on offense.

UNB’s Colin Swift made a hoop plus the harm to seal the win at the end of the game, and UNB won with a final score of 82-76.

It all boiled down to “guys just hitting shots,” said Alex DesRoches “our first game against Ottawa I think we had 2 points in the first quarter [it was 6], guys weren’t hitting, so we needed to keep swinging it, keep getting rebounds.”

 “I’d have to say our defense was the big thing,” explained coach Brent Baker “we were grinding, we attacked the zone pretty good today, got some offensive rebounds. We just made some plays to keep us in the game and keep them out.”