They looked a little rusty, but seven months off will do that to a basketball team.
Minus their star point guard, Jamie Searle, who retired after leading the Lakehead Thunderwolves to a fifth-place finish at nationals last spring, the Wolves spent much of their first preseason game back seeking their identity.
They found it midway through the third quarter on Friday night, used their trademark stifling defensive play to create turnovers, then rode the hot hand of Venzal Russell and Brendan King to an 80-68 win over the visiting Winnipeg Wesman.
Russell had 30 points, including a how-ya-like-me-now exclamation point trey to finish the contest, and King netted 11 points, all coming in the second half, as the Wolves kicked off their preseason with a hard-fought win.
“We played well in the second half,” said King, limited last season because of a series of injuries. “It was the first game of the year. Maybe there were a few jitters with everything that was going on. We tried to block it out as much as possible.
“But obviously we were excited. The first quarter went by and we weren’t doing as well, but I think in the end we all came together, started talking more and getting more comfortable. And we really pulled it out.”
The Wolves unveiled the banner they’ll raise to the Thunderdome rafters, celebrating their OUA championship of last season. The team also showed a five-minute video of their victories over Ottawa and Carleton, a departure from their usual pre-game routine.
It showed early on.
Trailing 38-35 at the half, the Wolves came out flat to start the second half, allowing Winnipeg to go on a 7-0 run and extend their lead to double figures.
Down nine, they began their comeback in earnest, with Russell nailing a key three-pointer that pulled the Wolves to within four. Greg Carter nailed a pair of free throws to cut the difference to two, then King, a 6-foot-7 forward out of Pettawawa, Ont., worked his magic underneath on a nice dish from Russell to tie the game 51-51.
The two teams exchanged hoops, and Winnipeg then took their final lead of the contest when Travis Krahn made good after a wild scramble down low in the LU zone.
But King responded, dropping a long-distrance three that put the Wolves up one, a lead they never relinquished.
Russell outscored the Wesmen 7-2 down the stretch to put the game ultimately out of reach.
Asked if it was as easy as it looked out, the Detroit-born Russell had a one-word reply.
“Yeah,” he said.
LU coach Scott Morrison wasn’t happy with the start, but liked the final result.
“I thought we made some pretty simple mistakes that we really shouldn’t be making in terms of our execution. The problem I have with that is that we really didn’t play any of our freshmen. It was all our veterans who were making the mistakes.
“At least we woke up in the second half. Brendan King had a really great second half and our defence really tightened up. That’s how we win games and that’s how we were able to stick this one out.”
Beyond the arc: Freshman guard Alex Robichaud, who led Superior Collegiate to a regional championship, will be on the sidelines for a couple of weeks or more. Robichaud spent time in hospital after contracting a virus, but said he’s OK ... The two teams will play again on Saturday night. Tip-off is approximately 8 p.m.. following the women's game ... the LU women fell 66-58 to Winnipeg.
