Tigers fall to Laval in national semifinal

The Laval Rouge et Or defended home court over the Dalhousie Tigers in an 85-74 victory in the U SPORTS semifinal Saturday night.

Laval, the host team of nationals, had a thunderous crowd that powered them all night.

Nginyu Ngala (Montreal, QC) opened the scoring with a pull-up 3-pointer at the top of the key to open the scoring moments in for Dal.

The Tigers scored several buckets to begin the semi final. The second basket was a Sam Maillet (Moncton, NB) to Malcolm Christie (Fredericton, NB) bounce pass for a dunk.

In the next play, Christie had a slip pass to Jayden Parker (Milton, ON) for a layup, a 7-2 start.

Laval gained a 14-11 lead with 4:39 left of the first quarter. Haris Elezovic (Sherbrooke, QC) scored all six of his free throws and a field goal for eight points to start the game.

Ismaël Diouf (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC) had a massive rejection on Andre Reid (Calgary, AB) on a drive to the rim, getting a response from his home crowd. Immediately after, the AUS MVP Christie hit a moving corner 3-pointer for a 16-14 lead.

With 1:04 left in the first quarter, Christie scored a 3-pointer off the screen from Spencer Riar (Montreal, QC) and an assist from Maillet. Dal led 23-20.

Gabe Damey (Ypsilanti, MI) scored the final basket of the quarter on a beautiful scoop layup finish. Dal led 25-20 going into the second quarter. Christie scored 12 points in the frame.

Diouf scored a 3-pointer with just under nine minutes left to cut Dal's lead to one point. Dal had gone scoreless to start the quarter, but Diouf hit another 3-pointer to take a 27-25 lead with 8:22 left in the second quarter.

Christie hit a step-back 3-pointer with just under seven minutes left to give Dal a 33-27 lead and so far tallied 15 points on the night.

Diouf scored a beautiful basket for Laval, losing Christie on a spin and step-through move to tie the game 33-33 moments later. Diouf scored his eighth and ninth points on the play.

Steve Joseph (Montreal QC) hit a 3-pointer with just under four minutes left of the second quarter to gain a 41-38 lead for Laval.

Damey began cooking at the end of the second quarter, making three straight baskets in under two minutes. Dal took a 45-41 lead with 1:15 left of the half with a tough layup from Damey.

It was a crazy end to the half. With eight seconds left, Laval's Joseph made a bank shot jumper at the end of the shot clock. Immediately after, Damey responded with a 3-pointer to end the half. Dal led 48-43 at halftime. Christie led all scorers with 20 points. Damey scored 12 points, shooting 100 per cent from the field.

Diouf scored an and-one to start the second half to cut the lead to three points. Dal's Parker responded with a layup off the feed from Christie to gain a 50-45 lead.

Joseph tied the game with about eight minutes left of the quarter off the 3-pointer. He had 11 points up to this point for Laval.

Diouf then scored on a cut for a wide-open dunk to take a 52-50 lead over Dal. Dal struggled to find an answer for the six-foot-nine forward and his 19 points with 5:29 left in the third quarter.

Dal scored three straight 3-pointers, two from Ngala and one from Christie, to end the third quarter and gain a 65-61 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Riar scored a 3-pointer minutes into the fourth quarter for a 68-63 lead.

Willem Mwanza (Kasenyi, Democratic Republic of Congo) scored a jumper immediately after to cut the Dal lead to three points. Riar came right back at Laval, scoring a layup.

Diouf had an incredible block on Riar on a closeout on a corner 3-pointer with just under six minutes left and Laval down three points.

With 1:24 left in the game, Elezovic's jump shot gave Laval a 75-74 lead. Almost 30 seconds later, he made another, giving Laval a 77-74 lead with 56 seconds left.

Dal failed to make another basket in the game's closing moments, losing 85-74 in the U SPORTS semi final.

Diouf won Player of the Game for Laval, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Christie led all scorers in the loss with 25 points.

Dal will play for the bronze medal against the uOttawa Gee-Gees tomorrow at 3pm on CBC Sports and CBC Gem. Laval faces the Queen's Gaels tomorrow at 7pm on CBC Sports and CBC Gem.