THUNDER BAY – Lakehead University’s basketball teams will be on the road this weekend to complete their ‘pre-Christmas’ competitive schedule versus the York Lions (Friday) and the Laurentian Voyageurs (Saturday).
Women’s Match-Up
Record: 3-3
Jon Kreiner’s team takes on the York Lions (3-3), who have averaged 58.8 PPG thus far in the season. The Thunderwolves will have to get their defensive ‘close outs’ in order, as York is not afraid to shoot the long ball (22.5 attempts per game, 2nd in CIS) and clock 7.3 3-pointers made per game. The Lions’ top scorer is Brittany Szockyj (13.2 PPG).
Laurentian (2-4) is always a tough competitor on their home court, and are led by sophomore Erin Simpson (11.0 PPG).
“These are two very big games for us as we head into the Christmas break. York is playing very well and coach Pangos always finds a way to have his team ready to defend. Laurentain has been struggling offensively but has always been a tough team to score on. They are big and play well at home. We’ve had success when we’ve moved the ball on offense and limit second chance opportunities on defense. This will be a tough road trip and we need to be mentally ready to play tough for 80 minutes”.
Men’s Match-Up
Record: 5-1
York has an athletic and skilled team led by all-star David Tyndale who can score off the bounce, off the catch and in transition. York also boasts wing man Aaron Rados who is having a breakout season, averaging nearly a double-double.
Laurentian has been one of the tougher teams in the OUA East at this stage in the season and offers a very balanced scoring attack and one of the harder working teams in the CIS. With his brother Manny injured, Isiah Pasquale will look to lead the “O” with his quick trigger, range and scoring ability. George Serresse will provide a very tough matchup for the ‘Wolves with his athletic ‘inside-out’ game and natural scoring ability. Post Hull and swingman Ratte also are scoring in double figures meaning the ‘Wolves will have to bring a full team effort on the defensive side to contain the Voyaguers.
Coach Morrison on the Weekend states, “We have a very tough weekend to try and finish this semester on a winning note. York has some very tough 1-on-1 matchups and some new ‘bigs’ that we will have to scout and learn to contend with. Laurentian is a hard working team that just keeps looking to score the ball and has a balanced attack to do so. We are going to have to be very familiar with the personnel section of our scouting report for both games this weekend and bring a high-energy and focused team effort for both games.”
Lakehead needs two wins to keep pace with Laurier and Brock who are both looking to enter the OUA West portion of the schedule in January with the ‘pole position’.
Game Times are 6 pm (women) and 8 pm (men) Friday and Saturday.
All games will be broadcast on SSN. www.ssncanada.ca/games