Men's hoops lose two more
Jordan Furness

The rebuilding phase of the Men's basketball squad hit a rough patch last week as the team lost twice and saw another player sustain a serious injury.

A 77-60 loss in Guelph last Wednesday was followed up by an 84-52 defeat at McMaster on Saturday. Of greater concern, however, was a serious neck injury that Jeff Zdrahal suffered near the end of the McMaster game. It is unsure when he will be able to play again, but he will probably not suit up for either of the next two games.

The Guelph game got off to a good start for Laurier as they outplayed the Gryphons in nearly every facet of the game. Bob Papadimitrou led the way scoring 14 points, with Jeff Zdrahal contributing 10 points and four assists. The Hawks were 4 of 7 from 3 point land and entered half-time leading 33-28. The second half saw Guelph storm back as Laurier's shooting cooled off and several fouls allowed the Gryphons to walk away with the victory. The Hawks had 16 fouls in the second half, whereas Guelph committed only 14 the entire game. Guelph picked up 15 points on those extra fouls which, not surprisingly, was the difference in the game. Ken Hodgkins scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead the Hawks overall while Scott Fitzpatrick also had a strong half picking up 10 of 13 points.

On Saturday it was much of the same story as the Hawks came out strong only to tire out and allow the undefeated McMaster Marauders to cruise to victory. Laurier opened up a 17-8 lead halfway through the first half but a 12-0 run by McMaster quickly erased that and the half ended with the Hawks trailing 30-20.

The second half was all McMaster as they spread the scoring around and at one point led by 39 points. The entire Marauder bench contributed at least one point and every player played at least nine minutes which was too much for Laurier who had five players over 27 minutes.

"When we're not fatigued we're very good and we can play with them," noted head coach Mike Kilpatrick. "However, we had players playing over 30 minutes, including freshman Adam Rogers at 31, while McMaster's players were all under 24 minutes. When you start to get tired you don't execute as well and that results in turnovers, broken plays, and shots that fall short."

As has been the case in nearly all their games, one facet of Laurier's play made most of the difference. Against McMaster it was turnovers, 35 in total opposed to 14 for Mac. This lead to 26 extra points and would have brought the game a lot closer. The turnovers can be traced to a more rested, thus quicker Marauder team.

The Hawks got another strong performance from Ken Hodgkins who had 14 points and 7 rebounds while Chris Popofski put down 10 and grabbed 5 rebounds. Popofski, who has been outstanding this year, agrees with Kilpatrick that fewer minutes would make a huge difference in his and the team's level of play.

"Our half-court game is one of the best in the country, but once you start running back and forth on the full court, we get into trouble," said Kilpatrick.

The injury plagued Hawks are home Wednesday night to face the Brock Badgers who are 1-3 on the season. A Laurier victory would go a long way toward making the playoffs. The Gryphons come to Laurier for a rematch this Saturday, January 30 at 7:00pm. The Hawks are looking to use the impressive first half against in their previous game against the Gryphons as a stepping stone toward defeating a good Guelph team.

As for Jeff Zdrahal, players such as Corwin Troje and Matt Babel will be stepping in for the injured star, however, Kilpatrick is not looking for anyone to jump out and score 20 points.

Instead, strong and steady play with few errors is what Kilpatrick believes will win the game for Laurier.

Game time versus Brock is 8:00 p.m. so come out and support the Hawks and celebrate a victory at Wilf's afterward.