THUNDER BAY – A national ranking means nothing when the postseason rolls around.
The No. 10 Lakehead Thunderwolves once again learned that lesson, bowing out of the Ontario University playoffs for the second straight year, this time at home, on Saturday night, falling 80-73 to an Ontario Tech Ridgebacks team that finished 10-12 during the regular season, nine wins fewer than their second-round opponent.
Nathan Bilamu and Chris Sagl, the heart-and-soul of the Thunderwolves all season long, both fouled out with the game still up in the air in the fourth, stymying Lakehead’s chance to bounce back against a Ridgebacks squad that hit 31 of 66 shots on the night, eight more than Lakehead managed to bury.
It was a tough blow, said LU coach Ryan Thomson.
“That hurt, and obviously that’s not the way (Nathan) saw his career coming to a close here at Lakehead. He’s had such a great four years and we’re really proud of him.”
Thomson isn’t sure if either player could have made a difference in the outcome if they’d stayed in the game, but he wouldn’t rule it out, either.
“I’d like to say yeah, but I think all year we’ve had, when guys are in foul trouble, or somebody’s been banged up it’s been a real group effort and the next man up being able to contribute. We had our chances tonight. We didn’t make some shots, we missed some free throws, and we weren’t great defensively,” Thomson said.
Bilamu, the second-leading score in the OUA had 18 points when he left with about five minutes to go in the fourth. Sagl had a team-high 22 when his foul count hit five, with about two-and-a-half left in regulation, the Thunderwolves trailing by six and seven points, respectively.
The fourth-year senior was devastated at being forced sit, his fourth and fifth fouls coming on questionable calls, the latter and offensive foul as he drove through the paint.
“In the moment, I was distraught. I felt like I let my team down and I wish I could take it back. But as soon as I got back to the bench that’s just the time where you support your boys and you stick with them and give them energy,” Bilamu said.
After trailing for the better part of the opening half, Lakehead’s offence finally began to click, Evan Nowak putting up a three late in the second to give the T-Wolves a 35-31 lead, which they stretched to six by halftime.
But the Ridgebacks came out firing to start the third and the Thunderwolves had no answer for Zubair Seyed and Ayub Nurhussien, who finished with 25 and 22 points, respectively.
The later buried a pair of back-to-back treys to cut Lakehead’s lead to 40-39 and Seyed added another bucket off a Sagl turnover to give Ontario Tech the lead for good, up 41-40. Back-to-back threes by the duo showed the crowd they meant business, and though LU managed to close to within one on a Bilamu three late in the third, and once again on a Nowak bomb, it was as close as they would get.
It was a disappointing way to go out.
“It definitely hurts. It wasn’t the result that we wanted, but I said in the locker room, I’m proud of our guys. At the beginning of the season I did not see an outcome like this. I did not see us going No. 2 in the OUA, and the fact that we did that just shows our leadership an our togetherness as a group.”
Ontario Tech advances to the OUA semfinal round, which kicks off next week.
