SASKATOON – The Lakehead University Thunderwolves men’s basketball team got the job done in their first game of the Graham Shootout, winning 90-74 over the Concordia Stingers. Lakehead was slow out of the gate to begin the game, trailing 21-15 after 10 minutes. Thanks to a strong second quarter, they were able to take a 44-37 lead into halftime. The third quarter was an offensive burst for both teams, with Lakehead having a 33-28 advantage in the Q. They locked down defensively in the final frame to close out the game on a 13-9 quarter.
Joe Hart was on fire for the T-Wolves, striking early and often from three point range to finish with 22 points and 6 rebounds (7-11 shooting, 4-7 from three). Ryan Thomson and Yoosrie Salhia kicked in 15 and 14 points, respectively. Joseph Nitychoruk, meanwhile had an efficient 6-7 shooting night for 12 points in as many minutes. Nathan Wainwright had two three pointers in his first game of the pre-season.
Concordia was led by Morgan Tajfel with 19 points, and Jerome Blake had 15. Kafil Eyitayo had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Coach Scott Morrison shared, “I thought some of our guy came out flat. The result was some second chances on the glass for Concordia and early bonus situations which led to 39 free shots for the opponent. However I was pleased with the energy off the bench of our young guys Nitychoruk and Thorne-finch who had the best game of heir young careers . Also we did a good Jon using our size advantage on offense getting the ball to Yoos and Thomson in the paint on a regular basis”.
The Stingers finished with an advantage in rebounds (36-34) and shot 39 free throws to Lakehead’s 21, with both teams shooting 66.7%.
The men play Regina tomorrow evening at 7:30 Eastern. Live stats will be available on Canadawest.tv
