Durham College tops St. Lawrence, wins first OCAA medal since 1997

It’s not often a team gets the chance to avenge a tournament loss in the same weekend.

The Durham Lords got that chance at the OCAA men’s basketball championship, and they didn’t waste it as they defeated the St. Lawrence Vikings 66-51 to win the bronze medal in front of their home fans at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre.

It’s the Lords’ first medal in OCAA men’s basketball competition since winning gold in 1997, and they also avenged a 69-65 loss to the Vikings on the opening night of the tournament.

From the opening tipoff, it was evident that, no matter how resilient the Vikings were, a repeat of Friday’s quarter-final wasn’t in the cards.

Durham, possibly riding the wave of support from its home fans, came out flying as they scored the game’s first eight points in a 2:18 stretch. The Lords also played tough defence to open the game, holding the Vikings off the scoreboard for the first 4:05 before Dawkins connected on a three-pointer.

The Lords had a strong finish to the opening half, closing on an 8-2 run in the final three minutes to take a 30-20 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Lords kept the momentum going through the fourth quarter, as they finally wore the thin Vikings roster down before closing out the game with a 9-0 run.