Mother Teresa players Ashton Khan (left) and Romaine Lawrence (right) converse after an intense halftime talk with their coach Richard Gallacher.
Romaine Lawrence lived up to his nickname Tuesday, leading Mother Teresa Titans to an 87-62 victory against the Jean Vanier Mavericks in a showdown of undefeated teams in the TDCAA senior boys basketball standings.
The man known as “King Romaine” because whenever he goes out on the court he gets what he wants, scored 30 points as the Titans kept their undefeated record intact at 8-0.
It was the 11th game in 15 days for the Titans and the fatigue from their grueling schedule was showing in the first quarter where Mother Teresa committed a number of turnovers that, luckily, Vanier could not capitalize on.
Teresa led after the first eight minutes.
Vanier’s offensive rebounding helped them take the lead for the first time in the game with 18 seconds to go in the second quarter. However, the lead was short lived after precision foul shooting put the Titans back on top to close the half.
Gallacher was not happy with his team’s performance and let them know at the end of the quarter.
“In the first half we didn’t play too well, I think we need to play a little smarter, a little more intense,” Gallacher said.
Lawrence echoed his sentiments. “He wasn’t happy with our performance,” he said. “[The halftime talk] wasn’t bad, he was yelling at us because we were playing horrible and he just wanted us to play great. He just boosted us to play well.”
The Titans started the third quarter with authority when Ashton Khan scored off of a fast break. But it was Mother Teresa’s six-foot-eight centre, Maurice Walker, who produced an offensive rebound and drove to the Vanier basket for a dunk.
Khan produced another two points off a fast break from Lawrence.
Lawrence, had the hot hand in the third quarter as he banked four three-pointers in a row.
Every time he shot from the perimeter, fans held up three fingers, anticipating another three ball from ‘King Romaine.’ Walker produced three blocks in the fourth quarter bringing Titans fans to their feet.
Walker was also a member of Canada’s Junior Men’s National Basketball Team and at 16 years-old is already striking the attention of several NCAA schools.
“The first half of play we played kind of sloppy but we picked up our intensity in the second half and that’s how we got our lead and won the game,” said Khan who scored 17 points.