THUNDER BAY – Sports – The men’s basketball team put the Guelph Gryphons through their paces on Saturday evening, winning 93-70 in front of a capacity Thunderdome crowd. The game was typified by Lakehead consistently hitting their open shots, while Guelph would struggle to find their stroke from the field.
The first quarter featured the ‘run out’ Lakehead offense, as they would create turnovers and convert for baskets at the other end, leading 26-10 after 10 minutes. In the second Guelph improved their shooting and made a run to bring it within 10 points at halftime, 44-34.
Whatever coach Scott Morrison said to his troops at halftime seemed to light a fire, as they stormed out on a 8-0 run to begin the third quarter. Although the Gryphons did claw some points back, they would never get closer than 10, en route to the end of their season.
Lakehead was led by Venzal Russell with 25 points (10-18), 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Other starters in double figures included Ben Johnson with 19 (7-11), Ryan Thomson 13 and Greg Carter 11 (plus 6 assists and 4 steals).
Guelph got scoring from Kareem Malcolm with 19 points, 6 rebounds and Dan McCarthy had 15 points. Adam Bering had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Coach Scott Morrison shared, “I did not think it was our best played game by any stretch – our decision making with the ball was shaky at times as was our rebounding. Guelph has had back to back road trips to Thunder Bay plus a wednesday game and still came in here and beat us 14-3 on the offensive glass. In play-offs its about winning, getting the job done and moving on. However for us to get the job done next Friday we will have to improve those two areas of the game immediately.
On behalf of the team I would like to thank our supportive and boisterous fans. We have the best atmosphere in the CIS and it has helped us go 15-1 at home this season. We will need our Thunderwolf Nation to come out and support us next week in Waterloo at the Final Four.”
Stay tuned for updates and check out thunderwolves.ca for more details about the Wilson Cup Final Four.