Box Score The Waterloo men's basketball team continues to search for their first win of the season after another tough loss to the York Lions by a score of 80-54 on Saturday night at the Tait McKenzie Centre in Toronto. 
 
The York University Lions men's basketball team dismantled the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday night (Nov. 24) in an 80-54 victory at the Tait McKenzie Centre.

The Lions used a plethora of free throws down the stretch to blow the game wide open in the fourth quarter en route to their most lopsided win of the season. Their defence also played well in the victory, limiting the Warriors to 32.8% shooting for the game.

The Lions were able to dominate the offensive glass in the first quarter, but it was their lack of execution on their second opportunities that allowed the Warriors to hang around through the first 10 minutes. The defence was aggressive on both ends and neither team was able to find its shooting touch.

The second quarter saw York struggle to protect the ball as the squad committed several turnovers. Fortunately, the Warriors were unable to convert on many of their transition opportunities and the lead was 21-17 for the Lions with 5:45 left to play in the second frame.  

Both teams continued to struggle from the field and the game failed to maintain any flow as fouls and turnovers were the theme of the quarter. However, the dying seconds would provide some excitement as Lions guard Richard Iheadindu (Brampton, Ont.) drained a half-court shot at the buzzer, and the Lions owned a 31-20 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter continued to see sloppy play by both teams, but the Lions were able to limit their mistakes and continued to play solid defence.

The Warriors would eventually cut the lead to just six after some mental lapses by the Lions saw them turn the ball over on consecutive possessions. However, the Lions used their size and athleticism to grab some offensive rebounds and they were able to take a comfortable 12-point lead into the final quarter.

Both teams traded buckets early in the fourth quarter as the offensive pace continued to elevate with the Warriors trying to erase their 12-point deficit. Unfortunately for Waterloo, the team couldn't keep the Lions off the foul line as their deficit grew to 14 with seven minutes left to play.

The Lions were in the bonus after that and made a conscious effort to use this to their advantage as they shot numerous free throws at the end to help them seal the victory.  

Tulloch notched his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead all Lions. Iheadindu finished with 11 points and Isaac had 10.

Waterloo had two players share the scoring lead, as Jon Ravenhorst (Sarnia/) and Wells Davis (Mississagua/) had 11 points apiece.

The win saw the Lions climb back to .500 with an overall record of 3-3 on the season, while the Waterloo Warriors were left winless as they fell to 0-5.

The Warriors close out 2012 next weekend with games against Carleton on Friday and Ottawa on Saturday, both at 8pm at the PAC.