THUNDER BAY, ON – Sports – The Thunderwolves rolled over the Golden Hawks at the Thunderdome Friday night. The men’s basketball team left nothing to chance on Friday evening, soundly thrashing the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 80-53.
The Thunderwolves would flatten their opponents in the first quarter, leading 25-6 after 10 minutes. The Golden Hawks did respond in the second quarter, edging the T-Wolves 20-18 in the Q but still trailing 43-26 at the break. Lakehead came right back in the third quarter (27-12) and put the game out of reach. In the fourth quarter both benches were put in to give the starters a rest for what should be an interesting matchup tomorrow evening.
Yoosrie Salhia continued his best season yet, compiling 22 points and 12 rebounds (6 offensive) in 16 minutes of play. Ben Johnson went 5-of-10 from the field for 16 points and Ryan Thomson added 11. Sophomore Joey Nitychoruk grabbed 10 rebounds.
For the Hawks, Will Coulthard had 16 points while Max Allin was limited to 11 points on 4-11 shooting.
Lakehead absolutely abused Laurier on the glass, out-rebounding them 56-27 (with 20 offensive boards). Both teams committed 16 turnovers. Laurier forward Patrick Donnelly was ejected in the 3rd quarter for excessive contact with Lakehead guard Alex Robichaud following a play.
Coach Scott Morrison stated, “I was pleased with the way we started each half. We were able to stick to our game plan on both ends and the scores in the 1st and 3rd quarter reflected this.” Morrison continued, ” Disappointed with the 2nd and 4th quarters- the 2nd we lost defensive intensity and almost threw away the nice lead we had earned after 10 minutes. In the 4th we had our younger guys in who impressed with their rebounding but showed a need for major improvement with their ball control. We are right back to work preparing for tomorrow as we expect a classic OUA West battle tomorrow night with Laurier coming out hard to try and make a statement.”
The two teams will rematch tomorrow evening at 8pm.
Webcast available via SSN Canada
Audio broadcast available via CILU Radio, 102.7FM
