RECORD SEASON FOR THE LANCERS

Coming off the program's success last season, the 2019-20 men's basketball team reached new heights and continued to set new records in the Loyalist College archives. The Lancers fought to the program's first 15-win season. Loyalist (15-5) earned the right to host a home playoff game after battling hard all season. Unfortunately, the Lancers ran into a tough and experienced Sheridan Bruins squad in their cross-over playoff match, in whom ultimately overpowered the Lancers 93-85.

Loyalist finished their regular season with a remarkable 9-1 home record, with their only blemish coming from the Fleming Knights. The Lancers finished with a 6-4 away record, which is an improvement from 4-6 last year. Loyalist opened the season hosting their annual Fall-Classic tournament. The Lancers went undefeated in the home court tournament grabbing victories over John Abbott, Canadore and Durham College. Their winning streak continued onto the regular-season where they captured three straight wins over Fleming, Georgian and Centennial College. However, they suffered their first OCAA regular season loss in early November against the Seneca Sting. Loyalist headed into the semester break with an 8-2 overall record. The Lancers would finish the second half of the season with a 7-3 record, which would position them to a third-place finish in the OCAA east division.

Senior leadership, again, was a key piece for the success of the program this season. Akim Ruot, Aiden Wells, Angelo Sarsonas and Noah Korovesi were all verbal leaders on the sidelines and in practice but physically led by example and played to the final whistle each game. The four seniors left an indelible mark on the program and helped the Lancers win over 45 games during their time with the program. They also played a major role in the team reaching the OCAA playoffs and in back-to-back seasons in the 2018-19 and 2019-20.

"I am happy with the way our season turned out," said head coach Patrick Kabeya. "I am super pleased with the effort the guys put in and the commitment they had throughout the season. It was fun to see the competitiveness from all of the players throughout the season.

Third-year senior Jeremiah Brown, led the Lancers all year with his dominating play on both ends of the court and constantly shown off his incredible athleticism by creating his own offense from the bounce. Brown was selected to the OCAA Men's Basketball East Division First-Team All-Star for the first time in his career after finishing with a career-high 17.9 points-per-game.

First-year rookie Ebenezer Teklezgi, joined Brown with an award as he was on the OCAA Men's Basketball East Division All-Rookie Team, finished second on the Lancers with 14.1 points-per-game, also shot very effective from the floor with a 47.4 field goal percentage. Lastly, Teklezgi recorded an impressive free-throw percentage shooting 63.9 percent from the charity line.

Coach Kabeya captured the OCAA Men's Basketball East Division Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. With Kabeya at the helm, the Lancers have only improved under his belt and will continue to be a force in a tough east division.