Almost exactly a year ago this time, a Laurentian Voyageurs men's basketball team coming off an 11-11 record hit the road for a first round playoff matchup against a 12-10 opponent who had already beaten them once in regular season play.

The Voyageurs would dearly love for lightning to strike twice.

In complete fairness to coach Brandon Edwards and his L.U. team, toppling an adversary who finished exactly one game better in a do or die match on the road hardly constitutes a colossal upset.

But in the super-tight parity-driven environment that is now men's basketball, it will take an impressive effort to overcome the challenge at hand.

Thankfully, Laurentian can draw on recent memory.

A 73-71 buzzer-beater win over the Carleton Ravens Friday night at the Ben Avery Gym not only handed the latter only their fifth loss of the year but completed a season sweep of the perennial powerhouse that would have been considered unfathomable just a few years ago.

A 28-point performance from Brice Fandio paced the homeside while To Randriasalama and Ismael Konate also hit double digits with 16 and 10 points respectively.

The Voyageurs made life difficult for the Ravens beyond the arc as Carleton converted only six of their 35 three-point attempts (17.1%), compared to a better-than-average 12/25 (48%) night for the Blue & Gold.

A 70-56 loss to the Ottawa Gee Gees (16-6) may have denied Laurentian a winning record this year but did little to take away from what was a highly competitive weekend, wrapping up a highly competitive 22-game regular season schedule.

All of which sets the stage for a matchup in Thunder Bay this evening with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, a squad that already silenced the Voyageurs 87-60 on a previous trek to northwestern Ontario less than a month ago.

That said, the 2024-2025 Windsor Lancers had also beaten Laurentian (88-81) in regular season play only to see the tables turned in the playoffs (75-59 for L.U.)

"Everyone is 0-0 in the playoffs," noted coach Edwards. "We just need to stick to doing things that have been successful for us."

"We have a team that knows what it needs to do to be successful: defend, rebound and be willing to fight for 40 minutes."

Still, Lakehead suffered just a single loss in regulation time at home, emerging triumphant on eight occasions and dropping a tough 84-80 contest to the Brock Badgers in overtime.

"Lakehead is a really good team," acknowledged coach Edwards. "They have size, length and a veteran point guard. If we stick to our plan on defense and make shots, we will be right there."