THUNDER BAY – Sports – Yoosrie Salhia had an incredible performance, and the Lakehead Thunderwolves improved their record to 2-4 on the season with a 90-71 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs (5-2) Friday evening. It was also the first time in over a month that Lakehead fans saw Ryan Thomson in the line up, who has been recovering from an upper body injury.
Lakehead got to work early, breaking out to an 11-0 advantage. Laurentian would spend the first half battling back to tie the score at 41 going into the break. Lakehead would explode for 32 points in the third quarter, more than the Voyageurs would score the remainder of the game (30).
From start to finish, Salhia would take care of business on the block, although it should be noted that the Voyageurs never elected to double team the 5th year senior. Salhia exploited the single coverage and went 12-21 (57%) from the field and 8-10 from the line. Salhia’s 32-point performance was the best of his career as a Thunderwolf, which he added to 5 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 28 minutes of play.
Supporting Salhia was a full team effort from his teammates. Dwayne Harvey was active on defense, picking up 5 steals, 8 rebounds and 6 points. Thomson would also grab 8 rebounds with 8 points and 5 assists in 23 minutes of play. Joe Hart (Southend, UK) filled it up from long range, hitting 4 of 5 attempts from behind the arc for a 14 point total. Senior point guard Greg Carter (Ottawa, ON) was the steady hand on the throttle of the Lakehead offense, with 7 assists, no turnovers with 7 rebounds and 8 points.
Laurentian had four players score in doubles figures, led by Nelson Yengue with 17 points and 5 rebounds, followed by Jamie Weldon (13), Alex Ratte (12) and Manny Pasquale with (11). Yengue also had 4 blocked shots.
Lakehead out-rebounded Laurentian 38-23.
Coach Scott Morrison said, “Its always nice to beat a tough team like Laurentian especially in the midst of a small slump that we have battled through the last couple of weeks. I thought tonight was our best game plan execution of the OUA season and we received strong energy for three quarters. I was still disappointed in our 2nd quarter effort where our hustle dropped as did our communication. It’s a step in the right direction and the focus now becomes on taking a second positive step tomorrow night vs York.”
The men play the York Lions tomorrow at 8 pm. – Webcast coverage via SSN Canada
Broadcast via CILU Radio, 102.7 FM