Thunder Bay- SPORTS – With another heavy-hitting team in the Thunderdome in as many nights, the Lakehead University Thunderwolves men’s basketball team were in deep against the CIS champion Carleton Ravens, bowing out 93-62.
The Ravens did their damage in the first and third quarters, outscoring Lakehead 49-24 in those two quarters combined. For the other 20 minutes, especially the second quarter (19-19), Lakehead played tough and traded shots with the Ravens.
Henry Tan bounced back from a lack lustre shooting performance to score 21 points with 6 assists on 9-of-18 from the field. Brandon Persad and Alex Robichaud were the other leading scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Lakehead’s Nick Burke and Taner Parrington struggled, going a combined 2-for-22 (2-for-13 from three)
Living up to their reputation, the Ravens were all over the glass, out-rebounding Lakehead 36-23. Lakehead did well to grab the 23 rebounds they did (10 offensive), given that Carleton only missed 23 shots while hitting the other 36 field goals (61%).
All five Carleton starters scored in double figures, led by Kaza KAjami Keane with 16 points. No single Raven got more than 5 rebounds, a testament to their ‘gang rebounding’ mentality that has helped them to the zenith of CIS basketball in the past decade.
Coach Manny Furtado commented post game:
“Our guys competed all weekend and I’m really proud of them. Hopefully we learned from the best teams in the country and what it’s going to take to play at a high level every possession.”
The men’s team continues their home stand next weekend against Nipissing and Laurentian.