Waterloo, ON - Western walked into the Laurier Athletic Complex stepping straight into a rivalry that never needs extra fuel. These are two schools that measure themselves against each other across every sport and every season. The gym always feels tighter when these jerseys share the floor. Every possession carries history. Every run feels personal.

And for most of the night it looked like Laurier was going to turn that rivalry into a statement win.

Laurier came out firing with a confidence that hit like a wave. Threes fell early and often and they came in bunches. Isaiah Fisher drilled the first one. Joshua Loblaw hit another. Liban Abdalla followed. And suddenly Western was chasing a scoreboard that kept sprinting away. Western got early paint touches through Lucas Sheets and Tye Cotie and Matteo Zagar tried to steady the game with drives and effort plays around the rim. Emmanuel Akot brought force and physicality and even threw down a fastbreak dunk that briefly cut through the noise. But Laurier kept landing clean punches from the perimeter and every time Western tried to settle it Laurier sped it back up.

By the end of the first quarter Western was down 24 15 and it already felt like Western was fighting the atmosphere as much as the opponent.

The second quarter became the hardest stretch of the night. Laurier stretched the lead wider and wider until it hit twenty. Western turned it over. Laurier turned those turnovers into points. The crowd rose with every three and every runout and Western was stuck in the kind of game that can swallow you whole if you blink. At one point Laurier had a grip on the night so tight it felt like the door was closing.

Western did not let it close.

Milan John started to punch back with rim pressure and transition attacks. Akot splashed a three that mattered more than the points because it changed the feel. Zagar kept battling inside and kept creating second chances. Western finally started to string stops together and the game stopped feeling like a runaway and started feeling like a chase. Still Laurier went into halftime up 47 33 and Western needed something dramatic.

The third quarter was the bridge to survival. Western hit shots but Laurier still had answers. Akot buried a three. Akot hit another. Milan John came up with steals and finishes. Sheets sprinted the floor for a fastbreak layup. But every time Western started to climb Laurier hit back with another three or another trip to the line. Loblaw hit a late triple and Laurier carried a 65 52 lead into the fourth.

That is where the night became something else entirely.

The fourth quarter was a comeback that felt impossible until it was happening right in front of everyone. It started with Milan John drilling a three to open the frame like a spark in dry air. Cotie went to the line and cut it down again. Western kept getting stops. Western kept attacking. Sheets hit a massive three to pull it close. Zagar finished inside. The lead shrank possession by possession and you could feel Laurier getting tighter while Western played freer.

Then came the moment that changed everything.

With the game slipping away and the building holding its breath Milan John hit another three to tie it at 72. The gym went silent for a second because the comeback was no longer a threat. It was real. Sheets jumped a pass for a steal that led to a huge finish. Zagar scored in the paint. Western kept answering every Laurier free throw with poise. Sheets hit a late three that felt like it might be the dagger. Laurier kept crawling back.

And then with almost nothing left Laurier found a way to force overtime. A last second finish and free throw tied it at 82 and the game that Western had dragged back from the edge refused to end.

Overtime one was pure nerve.

Milan John opened with free throws and Western took the lead again. Laurier answered with a three. Laurier hit another to go up three. The pressure could have broken Western right there.

Instead Milan John hit a three to tie it again. Just like that. In the loudest moment of the night he delivered the calmest shot. Sheets got to the line and put Western back in front. Laurier answered again. Ninety all. Five extra minutes gone and the game still locked.

Overtime two was about grit and survival and finishing through exhaustion.

Laurier scored first. Akot answered with a strong finish in the paint. Laurier hit a three. Akot answered again with another interior bucket that tied it. Akot then attacked once more and put Western up. The legs were heavy. Every cut hurt. Every rebound was a collision.

And still Western kept finding the next play.

Zagar got to the line and added points. Cotie finished at the rim to extend it. Then with the game down to seconds Owen Urquhart broke free for a huge finish that pushed the lead back to two possessions. Laurier could not land the last punch. Western did. Milan John hit the final free throw to make it 103 98 and the last Laurier three missed.

That is what makes this one feel like a lifetime game.

Western spent most of the night behind. Western faced a twenty point hole. Western played in a rival gym with the momentum against them and still pulled the game back one possession at a time until they were the team making the plays that decide history. Then they had to do it again in overtime. And again in the second overtime. A comeback is hard. A comeback that survives two overtimes is something else completely.

It took belief. It took composure. It took toughness. It took stars making star plays when the air gets thin.

Overtime one and overtime two were basically two different games stacked on top of each other and the game tells the whole story. In the first overtime Milan John immediately tried to take control at the line and put Western in front, then Laurier answered with a huge tying three that felt like it might swing the entire night back their way. Western kept getting looks but every miss felt louder until John stepped into another pressure moment and kept Western alive with steady scoring. Laurier hit again to take the lead, and it felt like Western had climbed the mountain just to get shoved back down, but John buried the tying three to make it 90 90 and reset everything with the gym shaking. In overtime two Laurier struck first again with a strong finish inside, but Emmanuel Akot responded right away in the paint to keep it even, then Laurier hit a massive three to jump ahead and Akot answered again, tying it back up with another tough interior bucket that showed he was not letting the game slip. Western finally grabbed a lead through grit plays and free throws, Matteo Zagar settled the moment at the line, and then Tye Cotie finished at the rim to stretch it. With seconds left Owen Urquhart delivered the backbreaking play of the night with a clutch finish in the paint off a Milan John setup, and even after that Laurier still had one more look from three that missed, before John iced it with the final free throw to close the door at 103 98.

Milan John
24 points
6 rebounds
5 assists
4 steals

Emmanuel Akot
21 points
5 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal

Lucas Sheets
19 points
5 rebounds
1 assist
3 steals

Matteo Zagar
14 points
12 rebounds
2 assists
2 blocks
2 steals

Tye Cotie
13 points
8 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal