ABBOTSFORD, BC – The Lakehead University Thunderwolves men’s basketball team took their second loss of the pre-season, 88-70 at the hands of the Fraser Valley Cascades. The game took on a similar flow to the encounter the two teams had at the CIS Final 8 last March, with UFV bringing more energy and leading early to begin the game, followed by repeated failed Lakehead attempts to close the gap. UFV put the game out of reach with a burst to begin the second half, extending the lead to 29 at one point. It was obvious that Lakehead was suffering from some road fatigue, as their usual spry defense was a step behind all night, leading to lots of open looks.
The host team was red-hot from the word go, jumping out to a 24-11 after one quarter. Lakehead would keep things even in the second to trail 44-31 at the half.
Living and dying by the 3-pointer on their recent road trip finally showed its double edge for the ‘Wolves, who up to this point had out-gunned their opponents from beyond the arc. On Friday evening, The Cascades would show just how good they were feeling from downtown, at one point in the 4th quarter shooting at a 63% success rate as a team. They finished hitting 15 of 26 long-range attempts (58%). The T-Wolves, on the other hand
Power forward Kyle Grewal was absolutely on fire for the home side, hitting 6 three-pointers, totalling 31 points. Point guard James York finished with 9 assists and no turnovers.
Limited Lakehead stats were available following the game.
Alex Robichaud had 12 points in 14 minutes of play, and Anthony McIntosh was a bright spot in the paint for Lakehead, active on the glass to score 14 points and grab 7 rebounds.
Lakehead coach Scott Morrison said, “We were a short handed team that ran into a talented starting 5 that was really feeling it tonight. I was disappointed in our game plan execution to start the game and 2nd half – when you play a top ten team missing 2 starters you have no choice but to execute the game plan to near perfection. At the same time I was quite pleased with the effort of our young bench who played even with UFV’s starters for the last 15 minutes of the game”.
“We are heading to play our 7th road game in 10 days tomorrow and 5th against a top ten team- I don’t know how much gas is left in our tank but I do know we are getting tougher and closer as a team on this trip. We have to keep learning from these tough match ups and invest in our season long development”
The men bring their road trip to a close tomorrow evening versus the UBC Thunderbirds, a perennial Canada West power. Game time is 9 pm EDT.
