THUNDER BAY – It’s not an understatement to say 2024 has been very good to the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team.
The T-Wolves on Saturday night erased a seven-point deficit after the opening quarter, holding the visiting Brock Badgers to just nine points in the second, then held on as Brock climbed to within a point late in the fourth for a 72-70 win.
With the victory and the weekend sweep, Lakehead has now won seven of eight games, their lone loss since the Christmas breaking coming in double overtime last weekend against the No. 5 Laurier Golden Hawks.
Once again, the Thunderwolves spread the offence around.
Chris Sagl finished with 15 points and handed out nine assists on the night, while Nathan Bilamu chipped in a dozen an Harold Santacruz had 11 for Lakehead. The T-Wolves also got 22 points from their bench, including nine by Josh Strongman, who added five rebounds.
Lakehead led 41-38 at the half and 62-57 after three quarters.
The Thundewolves opened a quick 10-point lead to start the fourth, scoring five straight points, but Jevon Brown buried a three-pointer with 36 seconds left to cut the LU lead to 71-70.
Michale Okeke stole the ball on Lakehead’s next possession, but missed a jump shot that would have given Brock the lead with 10 seconds to play.
Carson Unrau corralled the rebound and got the ball to Sagl, who was fouled, went to the line an sank one-of-two free throws, with just one second left on the clock.
Lakehead improved to 9-9 on the season, good for 10th overall in the OUA. The Badgers fell to 7-10.
Lakehead takes next weekend off, then hosts Queen’s and Ontario Tech on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, their final homestand of the regular season.
