Lakehead Men Didn’t Have Answers Saturday

THUNDER BAY – LU Sports – The Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team didn’t have enough answers on Saturday evening, losing 77-65 to the CIS #6 ranked Ryerson Rams. Thunderwolves Coach Matt Erdman said, “I thought we battled against a very good team tonight. Ryerson made plays down the stretch and essentially that was the difference. We’re improving, buying in and sticking to the game plan more and more each week.”

Thunderwolves – Visible Improvements

Despite the loss, there were visible improvements among the young ‘Wolves group who have played 4 of the CIS’ top 10 teams thus far in the regular season.

Against a speedy Rams’ squad, Lakehead’s transition defense was continuously tested, and for about 75% of the game would get a passing grade.

That last quarter (25%) would bite them however, as Lakehead’s defense gave up 24 points in the final 10 minutes. That being said the ‘Wolves did come within two points, with the score 53-51 early in the fourth quarter, and would have tied the game had a lay-up by Justin Bell fallen through, instead of rattling around the the iron before popping out inexplicably. 

Bell also offered great relief minutes for Lakehead bigs and made his presence in the lane felt by the Rams, finishing with 2 points and 3 rebounds in 7 minutes. Alex Robichaud was another standout for Lakehead, who scored 9 points and was able to draw two charges. Rookie point guard Nolan McKenzie (Oakville, ON) played 17 minutes, racking up 4 assists and nailing a triple to keep Lakehead in the game.

The ‘Wolves were led by Anthony McIntosh with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and a perfect 5-5 from the stripe. Dwayne Harvey had 10 points, and Brent Wallace had his best game yet with 8 points and 5 rebounds.

For Ryerson, Jahmal Jones had a game-high 21 points, and Kadeem Green scored 16 points with 8 rebounds.

The men’s team will conclude their pre-Christmas portion of the season in Windsor next weekend against the Lancers.