THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – Lakehead Basketball will take their show on the road this weekend as they get set to do battle with the Ottawa Gee-Gees (Friday) and Carleton Ravens (Saturday), with the women at 6pm, and the men 8pm both nights.
The Guelph Gryphons, the OUA Central division rival of Lakehead, will also be playing the Ottawa powerhouses this weekend, which poses the question, ‘who can play the Ottawa teams better?’ On back to back nights.
Women (6-3)
The Thunderwolves last played the Gee-Gees (6-3, OUA North) in December in Halifax, coming away with a 83-73 win and the Thunder Selects CIS Holiday Classic banner. This was also the occasion of Jylisa Williams’ setting a new Lakehead single-game record with 44 points.
Ottawa will be certain to make adjustments, and will welcome back star Stephanie MacDonald (16.8 ppg) who didn’t play in theDecember matchup. Lakehead hasn’t beaten Ottawa in a regular season game since the 2010-11 season (a 52-48 win in Ottawa), and lost last season’s game 78-52 in Thunder Bay.
The Carleton Ravens (5-4, OUA North) won last year’s matchup in the Thunderdome, 67-47, and have a large front court that will challenge Lakehead’s bigs.
Coach Jon Kreiner says, “This weekend we visit the Nation’s Capital to play two very tough but different opponents. We already saw Ottawa in Halifax but their leading scorer Stephanie MacDonald is back and healthy. Ottawa is a small, quick, good shooting team that will pressure us and make it difficult on both ends of the floor. Carleton on the other hand is one of the tallest teams in the CIS and we must be ready to defend the paint. Both teams play tough, lock down defence and force you to your weaknesses.”
Men (5-4)
The men’s team will try their best against the #1 and #2 teams in the country, with Ottawa (#1) coming off a huge 68-66 win over the CIS champion Ravens (#2) last weekend.
Led by Johnny Berhanemeskel, the OUA’s scoring leader at 22.9 per game, Ottawa will present a formidable opponent for Lakehead, who battled the Gee-Gees to a 80-75 loss last year in the Thunderdome.
The Ravens, a seemingly infallible and mechanical basketball machine are coming off their only loss of the season, and their first regular season loss since November of 2012.
The Scrubb brothers, Tommy and Phil have combined to score an average of 37 points per game thus far. The Ravens rarely lose the battle of the rebounds, and Lakehead will have its hands full at both ends of the court.
Coach Manny Furtado shares, “This will be by far our toughest road trip of the year. Facing the defending OUA champs and then the CIS champs will be a true test of our team.”
Webcast Coverage of all games will be available via OUA TV.
Weekend Schedule:
Fri, Jan 16 @ Ottawa Gee-Gees
6:00pm – Women
8:00pm – Men
Sat, Jan 17 @ Carleton Ravens
6:00pm – Women
8:00pm – Men
