GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons men's basketball team were home to the 3rd-place Laurier Golden Hawks Wednesday night (March 2). Guelph was coming off two strong victories over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds, looking to end Laurier's 6-game winning streak. The fans at the Gryphons Athletics Centre got their money's worth, as the winner of this one wasn't decided until the final seconds of the game. A
Malcolm Glanville free throw topped off another great performance from the 4th-year guard and ended Laurier's win streak while giving the Gryphons their 3rd win in a row for the first time this year.
The Golden Hawks looked like a team that was riding a hot streak when they started this game, they would go up on the Gryphons 5-1 until a
Keenan Dowell 3-pointer sparked an 11-0 run for the home team. This included a sequence that saw
Malcolm Glanville finish off an and-1 play and then draw a foul on Laurier the following possession. The Golden Hawks and Gryphons exchanged baskets in a very tight, high-paced first quarter and the Gryphons found themselves down 18-15 in the final moments of the first quarter, until
Khalid Ismail and
Jalen Mason hit consecutive three-pointers to put the gryphons up 21-18, in an important swing of momentum heading into the second quarter.
The Gryphons used this to build their lead, going on an 8-0 run and scoring 17 of the first 22 points of the second frame, showing the Golden Hawks that they were going to have to fight for their seventh straight win. The Gryphons continued to perform possession after possession, with
Malcolm Glanville putting up 11 points in the quarter, and they went to the room after the first half up 47-32.
After a dominating first half for the Gryphons, Laurier came back from the break showing the Gryphons that they were not going to go down easy. The Golden Hawks started the second half with a 10-2 run over the Gryphons, putting them on their heels. The Gryphons continued to weather an offensive onslaught from the Golden Hawks, which included Ali Sow and Romello Taylor combining for 15 points, but the Gryphons managed to remain on top, 66-58, heading into a thrilling, final quarter of play. The Golden Hawks continued to pressure the Gryphons and managed to produce their first lead since the 1st quarter with 5 and a half minutes left in the game. The Gryphons remained hungry as the two teams exchanged leads until the very end, bringing the fans to the edges of their seats in the final minute of play.
The Gryphons were up 83-80 heading into the final minute of the 4th quarter, until Ali Sow buried a shot from beyond the arc to tie the game up for the Golden Hawks. Gryphons guard
Brandon Halliburton responded right away as he muscled his way through traffic to regain the Gryphons lead with :32 seconds left. The last :30 seconds were full of passion as Laurier fought to tie it up, and the Gryphons worked to hold them off. Laurier found their chance when Romello Taylor went to the free throw line with 2 seconds left in the game. While the Gryphons crowd filled the gym with noise, Taylor drained both free throws to tie the game, which seemed like it would send this game to overtime.
The Gryphons, however, had other plans.
Malcolm Glanville received the inbounds pass on the following possession, drew a foul on his jump shot and went to the line with less than 2 seconds left. He proceeded to drain the game winning basket and then purposely bounce the second one off the rim to run down the clock and seal the 86-85 victory for the Gryphons.
Malcolm Glanville finished off a tremendously entertaining game with 24 points to lead the Gryphons, while
Rasheed Weekes put together his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Brandon Halliburton also put home 17 points for the Gryphons and Ali Sow led the push for the Golden Hawks with a game-high 25 points.
The Gryphons and Golden Hawks meet again on Friday in Waterloo for what is expected to be another great matchup, as the Gryphons look to build on their 3-game win streak, and make a push in their final games of the regular season.
Malcolm Glanville heads into Friday night's game needing just five points to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career.
