The Wolves are on their way to Waterloo to defend their OUA men's basketball championship.
Lakehead on Saturday pulled out a 93-70 win over the upset-minded Guelph Gryphons to capture the one-and-done second round playoff series.
"It feels good. We wanted another crack at Carleton, so we had to win to get there," said Venzal Russell, the LU guard who led all scorers with 25 points.
"Hopefully we get another crack at Carleton."
To do so they'll first have to beat Ryerson in the OUA Final Four semifinal next Friday, after the Rams surprised Ottawa on Saturday, pulling out a 74-71 win to earn the fourth and final berth at the league championship.
Carleton made easy work of Laurentian, winning 87-66, while McMaster continued its Cinderella season, knocking off Windsor 77-67. The two victorious teams will mean in the other semifinal.
Russell and Ben Johnson keyed a 13-0 run midway through the fourth quarter at the Thunderdome, putting the pesky Gryphons out of their misery and advancing the Wolves to next OUA Final Four.
Russell had eight and Johnson five during the decisive streak, after the Gryphons had pulled to within 10.
"It was just a matter of us using our defence to create some offence," said Johnson, a native of Pictou, N.S. who finished with 19.
"We got out of transition and Ben found me for that shot and I got an easy lay-up. When you get some easy buckets, the buckets just seem to come easy," said Johnson, who is 2-for-2 in Final Four appearances as a member of the Thunderwolves.
"It's great. It's what we work all season for," said Johnson, at the unsure who they'll play on Friday. "Right now all we're worried about is whoever we're playing next."
Russell, a Detroit import, said there was no way he was giving the Gryphons a chance to play spoiler, after they fought back to earn a 61-58 victory over Laurier in the opening round on Wednesday.
"I just tried to be aggressive because last week against Laurier they were down in the third and fourth quarter and came out with the win," Russell said, finishing with 25 to lead all scorers.
The Wolves were never really in trouble in this one, save for a 4-0 deficit in the early seconds of the opening quarter, though it never really felt like they were completely in charge until the fourth-quarter run.
"They're a tough team. They never give up. They're a resilient team, so coach told us to stay at it and keep attacking, get it to the post. We stopped going to the post in the third, but we got it back to the post and got back into the rhythm of the offence," Russell said.
Guelph's early lead didn't last long. Russell stole the ball and raced down the court to get the Thunderwolves on the board, then Johnson gave LU the lead for good, Russell capping a 16-0 run with his first three-pointer of the night.
The Wolves took a 26-10 lead into the second quarter, but stumbled a it and were outscored 24-18 and were only up 10 at the half. Lakehead scored six straight to start the second, but the Gryphons held tight and held their composure, even as the Wolves took the lead to 18 on a Ryan Thomson three.
Dan McCarthy, who finished with 15 for Guelph, losers of two lopsided decisions last weekend at the Thunderdome, pulled the Gryphons to within 10 to start the third, scoring while being fouled. But the Gryphons could only manage to trade baskets until Russell and Johnson took the game into their own hands.
"I thought tonight our best offence was our defence. The fourth quarter and the first quarter were our most consisten for D," said LU coach Scott Morrison. "We found a little hole in their D. They went small, it was kind of hurting us, so we decided to go to Venzal in the post, something we haven't done much this year, but it was kind of a bread-and-butter thing for us last year.
"It was a good thing to see successful and maybe we can add it to our mix for next week."
Beyond the arc: Yoosrie Salhia returned to the lineup and scored four points in limited action coming off the bench. Brendan King dressed, but did not play ... The Wolves only had three offensive boards, something Morrison said has to improve going forward. All told LU was out-rebounded 38-34 ... Johnson and Thomson combined to go 7-12 from three-point territory ... Kareem Malcolm had 19 to lead Guelph ... Lakehead forward Adam Johnson finished one rebound shy of a double-double. He had 10 points on the night.
Follow Leith Dunick on Twitter: @LeithDunick
