Main scorer smothered

Faulkner shut down in Laurentian loss

Greg Faulkner connected on just three of 13 field goal attempts — including this dunk — in the Gaels’ 85-76 loss to the Laurentian Voyageurs last Saturday.
Greg Faulkner connected on just three of 13 field goal attempts — including this dunk — in the Gaels’ 85-76 loss to the Laurentian Voyageurs last Saturday.

Inconsistent play cost men’s basketball a winnable game Saturday against the Laurentian Voyageurs.

After clobbering the Nipissing Lakers 90-63 on Friday, the Gaels struggled offensively when stud guard Greg Faulkner was shut down by the Voyageurs’ defence. They lost 85-76.

“It was a mixed bag of results in terms of how we played,” said head coach Stephan Barrie. “I thought some guys played well … but overall too many lapses, too many inconsistent stretches.

“That certainly came back to haunt us,” he added, “especially on Saturday night.”

One player who impressed was third-year guard Sukhpreet Singh, who dressed for the first time this season after being out with an injury. Singh’s rehabilitation process has been ongoing for the past six months.

“Sukhpreet Singh in his first action in almost a year, I thought did well,” Barrie said. “And I know he’s going to keep getting better as he gets his feel back.

“We didn’t want to rush him back … so we’ve just been working him slowly, not trying to overdo it,” he continued. “He’s not at 100 per cent but he’s certainly at a decent spot where he can be effective on the floor again.”

The Gaels were tied with the Voyageurs (3-6) heading into the final quarter of Saturday’s game, but eventually lost by nine. The men scored 14 points in the fourth quarter compared to 23 for the Voyageurs.

Singh recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Guards Cy Samuels and Patrick Street contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively, while forward Ryall Stroud had 10.

Faulkner was limited to seven points.

“Gotta give your credit to the other team,” Barrie said. “Some of it may be [Faulkner] wasn’t at his best, but some of it, certainly credit to them.”

First-year Tanner Graham got the start against Laurentian and recorded six points and three blocks.

“[Graham] did some really good things,” Barrie said. “I like his continual development.”

Friday’s game was much less contested. This is the inaugural OUA season for the Lakers, who’ve yet to win in eight games this year.

Gaels forward Mike Shoveller had a standout performance with 21 points.

“He had a great night Friday – so-so on Saturday,” Barrie said. “Saturday was a very small team, so sometimes that doesn’t help his cause.”

Singh contributed 16 points and Stroud had 14.

This weekend, the men will travel to Toronto to take on their OUA East divisional rivals: the York Lions (5-4).

“It’s a big game,” Barrie said. “We’re going to have to make sure we execute better than we did this past weekend and go in there and really hunt for that win.

“This is more like a four-point game, realistically, because they’re in our division.”

Tags

Barrie, Gaels, Laurentian, Men's Basketball, Nipissing

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