Box Score The No. 9 Varsity Blues men’s basketball team fell 88-74 to the York Lions on Friday, January 14 at Tait McKenzie Centre.

With the loss, the Blues fall to 7-4 and remain in second place in the OUA East division, while the Lions improve to 6-6 and are tied for the Laurentian Voyageurs for fourth.

The win marks York’s second consecutive over Toronto, their last coming in the 2009-10 OUA East quarter-finals, where the Lions upset the Blues 86-79 to put an abrupt end to their season on home court.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with both teams trading baskets and leads throughout. The Lions nearly escaped the first with a 20-17 lead, but second-year guard Dakota Laurin of Calgary hit a three-pointer in the dying seconds to tie the game at 20-20.

Both teams continued to trade baskets in the second, but the Lions were able to pull ahead late. Stefan Haynes (North York, Ont.) drained two of his six points in the final seconds of the quarter to put the Lions up 42-40 heading into the third.

Dejan Kravic (London, Ont.) led York with seven points in the quarter, while Varsity Blues guard Justin Holmes of Toronto drained two three-pointers for a team-high six points.

The Lions increased their lead to four in the third quarter with yet another late scoring surge. The home team held a narrow 66-62 lead heading into the fourth.

York pulled away in the fourth quarter en route to the 14-point win.

Holmes recorded a game-high 20 points, draining six three-pointers on the night. Alex Hill had 18, while Andrew Wasik contributed 13 on the night. Arun Kumar chipped in with 10 points in the loss.

The Varsity Blues return to the floor tomorrow night when they head to Sudbury, Ont., to take on the Laurentian Voyageurs. Game time is set for 8 p.m. Fans can catch the game live on SSN Canada.

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