BARRIE, ON - The Durham College men's basketball team end the calendar year and will go into 2024 on a seven game win streak following a 91-84 win over the Georgian Grizzlies.
Durham went into Barrie and made a statement in the early moments of the game, taking a 9-2 lead through only 2:20 of action. The Grizzlies would claw their way back, eventually tying the game, but a 10-3 run in the late minutes of the opening frame put the Lords up 23-17 after 10 minutes.
Georgian kept it close throughout the second quarter. While the Lords matched their first quarter total with another 23 points, the Grizzlies found an uptick in offence with 21 points of their own in the frame. At the halftime break, the Lords led 46-38.
It was a back and forth third quarter, seemingly every time one team scored it would be followed by a bucket at the other end of the court. Durham scored a game-high 27 points in the third quarter, but since the Grizzlies also dropped 26 points it only allowed the Lords to slightly extend their lead.
With 10 minutes left to play on the clock as the fourth quarter began, the Lords led 73-64. Durham had their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter, up by 12 with less than seven minutes to go.
An 8-2 run for the Grizzlies brought them back within six but the Lords would find their rhythm again, holding on for a seven-point victory.
Julian Hinckson Jr. (Ajax, ON) had, by a wide margin, his best game of the season. He surpassed his previous season-high 13 point performance with a 30-point game on Friday. Additionally, he added five rebounds, three steals and a block. Hinckson Jr. rarely missed, shooting 14-for-16 on the night with his only two misses coming from beyond the arc.
O'Shane Taylor-Douglas (Scarborough, ON) had an impressive showing with 22 points, five assists, two rebounds, a pair of steals and a block.
Like Hinckson Jr., nearly every shot seemed to fall for Jasean Elliott (Toronto, ON) as he shot 7-for-9, recording 15 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Kevin Hamlet (Scarborough, ON) rounded out the quartet of players with double-digit points, scoring 11 to go with five rebounds.
The Lords have shot with over a 60% success rate three times this season, and with 61.5% on Friday they go into the holiday break having done so in two consecutive appearances.
Proving to be efficient, the Lords collectively recorded a 51.0% field goal percentage in the fall, the only OCAA team to be over 50%.
Durham also benefited from points off turnovers, turning 16 Grizzlies turnovers into 25 points in the game.
The Lords are 9-1 going into the new year and will pick up where they left off on Wednesday, January 10 in Peterborough against the Fleming Phoenix.
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