The Brock Badgers men’s basketball team started 2025 strong with a massive 71-37 home triumph against the York Lions on Jan. 8 to win their fifth consecutive game and record their largest margin of victory this season.
Second-year guard Davanté Hackett scored a game-high 17 points and five three-pointers, as rookie Ben Herbert contributed with a career-high 12 points and four threes while drawing four charges on the defensive end.
Brock’s defence was the story of the first half, limiting York to only three field goals made on 18 attempts (16.67 per cent) and an appalling zero-for-11 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter.
At the other end, the Badgers made nine field goals on offence which included three threes, as a 10-0 run by Brock midway through the frame gave the home side the early 21-7 lead after the first quarter.
In the second, the Badgers continued to excel on both ends of the court, limiting the Lions to only two points in the quarter while managing to score 14 points to go up 35-9 entering halftime.
With momentum in Brock’s favour, the Badgers started the second half as the first one ended, scoring 10 field goals and six three-pointers in the quarter — the highest of any quarter in the game in both categories.
Nils Gesmann got the party started with a floating layup before the threes started raining down. Hackett scored a trio of triples, Herbert nailed a pair and Anthony Heyes added one as the Badgers scored 26 points on an efficient 45.5 per cent shooting to expand their lucrative lead.
With Brock up 61-18 entering the fourth and the game out of reach, the Lions began finding their shooting stroke, but it was too little, too late.
York closed the game outscoring the Badgers 19-10 in the final quarter, but Brock’s sizeable advantage kept them victorious to win their fifth straight home game against the Lions at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
The Badgers finished the contest shooting 34.1 per cent from the field (28-82) compared to the Lions woeful 21.3 shooting percentage (13-61), while winning the three-point category with 13 makes (32.5 per cent) versus York’s two (8.3 per cent).
Brock also got contributions up and down the lineup, receiving strong production from their bench with 50 bench points as the Badgers scored 12 second-chance points, 24 points in the paint and 12 points off 14 York turnovers to seal the victory.
The next home game for the Badgers is the annual Paint the Meridian Red showdown against rival McMaster Marauders at the Meridian Centre on Jan. 17. Tip off for the women’s game is at 6 p.m. with the men’s battle following at 8 p.m.
Tickets can be bought at ticketmaster.ca.
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