NORTH BAY – The Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team will have to settle for the No. 2 seed heading into the OUA playoffs.
The No. 8 Thunderwolves entered play on Friday night with a shot at top spot in the league, and did their part, downing the Nipissing Lakers 86-74 on the road.
The No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees, however, did not cooperate.
Lakehead needed to win out, but they also needed Ottawa to lose both of their remaining two games, and that won’t happen.
The Gee-Gees (19-2) held off the host Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 83-77 and clinched top spot, holding the tiebreaker over Lakehead (18-3) by virtue of an 81-56 win earlier this year against the Thunderwolves at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
Spaniard Harold Santacruz was the backbone of the Thunderwolves offence against the Lakers, putting up a game-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds, second on the team to Keylian Coulibaly’s nine.
Nathan Bilamu, the second-leading scorer in the OUA, had 19 and Marson Alson added 10 for LU,
Alvin Icyogere had 21 and Darnaz Mabanza finished with 19 for Nipissing.
Lakehead will open the playoffs on Feb. 22 at home against a to-be-determined opponent.
They’ll wrap up regular-season play on Sunday, venturing to Sudbury to take on the Laurentian Voyageurs, who sit at 10-11, good for ninth in the OUA.
