The York University Lions basketball teams made the trip downtown to face the Toronto Varsity Blues in a Saturday night doubleheader at the Goldring Centre. Both sides sought their first victory of the winter term following road losses to the Brock Badgers on Wednesday.

Women's Game: 

The Lions got off to a torrid start, opening on a 11-2 run that featured a three-pointer from Alexis Grewal and six points from Kiara Leveridge. The Lions applied pressure on the home team throughout the quarter, forcing the Blues into eleven turnovers, scoring eight points off of them. York took a 15-9 lead into the second quarter.

Momentum would swing back-and-forth throughout the second quarter. A 8-0 run by the Lions to open the frame was immediately followed by a 7-0 from the Blues. Gabriella Di Pietro scored all seven of her first-half points in the quarter and notched two of her four first-half steals, as York went into halftime with a 33-28 lead.

The Lions got off to another strong start in the third, going on a 12-3 run to open the frame. Leveridge accounted for eleven of York's points and would also record two steals as the Lions took a 52-44 lead to the fourth.

The fourth quarter was a defensive battle to start, with the teams combining for just five points in the first six minutes. York would pull away from there, going on a 13-6 run to close out the game and take home a 68-52 victory over the Blues. The win allows the Lions to keep pace in the OUA playoff picture, now at 4-8 and sitting tied with Laurier for 11th in the OUA. The Lions own the tiebreaker in that scenario by virtue of their season-opening win over the Hawks on Oct. 25.

Men's Game: 

The Blues got off to a strong 8-2 start, but three-pointers from Elias Panagiotopoulos and Malakai Ayres-Olson cut the deficit to one at a 11-10 score midway through quarter. The home team would pull away however, taking a 29-19 lead into the second. 

The Lions cut into the Blues lead in the second. K'Shawn Latty had a strong quarter, scoring fifteen points, including three threes. York would overtake Toronto, outscoring them 28-14 in the frame, and take a 47-43 lead into the break. 

Liam Rietschin scored six points on an 11-0 second half-opening run for the visitors. Toronto would rally with a 15-2 of their own run to close the quarter to make it 60-58 in favour of the red & white entering the fourth.  

The game continued to be tightly-contested in the fourth quarter, with the rivals trading buckets down the stretch. With the game deadlocked at 71, Panagiotopoulos and Travon Hamilton helped the Lions pull away. Panagiotopoulos scored four points, while Hamilton notched seven points in an 11-4 run to close out the Blues and take home an 82-77 victory.

LOOKING AHEAD: 

The Lions travel to Windsor to face the Lancers on Friday. Tip-off for the women's and men's games are at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm respectively.