THUNDER BAY – Adrian Nowak was headed for a career night against the Laurier Golden Hawks.
In fact, he was already there, with 24 points, two more than he put up against McMaster in the third game of the season.
However, he didn’t get the chance to add to his total.
The fourth-year transfer from Queen’s University was kicked out of Friday night’s contest, handed a double technical foul after a brief scuffle with a Laurier opponent.
At the time, Nowak had outscored his teammates 24-14, powering the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team to a 38-35 lead at the break.
With their usual next-man-up mentality, the T-Wolves rallied behind their missing sharpshooter to pull out an 85-78 win, improving to 9-1 with No. 5 Carleton, the lone remaining undefeated OUA team, less than 24 hours from landing at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
Nathan Bilamu stepped up, equalling Nowak, who didn’t even start the contest, with 24 points, the Thunderwolves hanging on to edge a 3-8 Golden Hawks squad that clawed to within two points in the fourth, after trailing by as many as 11 in the late stages of the third.
Nowak, who will serve a one-game suspension on Saturday night, said it was too bad the night came to and end so early.
“It was definitely fun to play. It was a questionable toss-out there, but it happens,” said Nowak, a Barrie, Ont. native who finished 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, the team hitting 13 three-pointers on the night.
“I feel sometimes when shots go in, the shot won’t not go in.”
LU coach Ryan Thomson said it was nice to see the team rally behind Nowak’s departure to pull out the victory.
“I don’t know what he would have done had he been able to play the second half. But I was happy with our response as a group for being prepared and really rallying around that. Sometimes that stuff happens. It’s not going to be perfect every time,” Thomson said.
The game was a back-and-forth affair in the early stages of the opening quarter, the lead changing four times in the first three minutes of play.
Laurier took a 16-10 lead with about three minutes to go in the first on a bucket by seven-footer Omar Nur, but the Wolves pulled to within two on a Nowak trey and trailed 18-16 after one.
Nowak kept raining threes in the second quarter, but the Golden Hawks jumped in front 31-24. Harold Santa Cruz cut the gap to five and Bilamu hit a step-back trey to cut the lead to 31-29. Nowak then posted eight quick points, giving Lakehead a 37-35 lead.
The turning point may have been his double technical.
The Golden Hawks were awarded three free-throws. Taye Donald missed the first and Terell Lloyd came up short on the next two and Lakehead led by three at the half.
They never trailed again.
Bilamu helped key a 9-0 run in the third that opened up a 59-48 lead, a streak ended by a Lowell three-pointer.
The Thunderwolves took an eight-point lead into the fourth and stood strong against a Laurier squad that always gives them trouble. Up five, Chris Sagl buried a three to make it 75-67. They jumped in front by 13, only to have the Golden Hawks go on an 8-0 run. But Bilamu came through in the clutch once again, hitting his fourth three of the night to make it 83-75, putting the game out of reach.
Ethan Passley led Laurier with a game-high 25 pons, while Lloyd finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Santacruz had 13 points and 13 boards for a double-double for the T-Wolves.
Game time Saturday night is 8 p.m.
