THUNDER BAY – Ryan Thomson says the Ottawa Gee-Gees might be ranked No. 7 in the country, but in his mind, they’re probably the best men’s basketball team in Canada.
They certainly put the Lakehead Thunderwolves in their place on Friday night.
After coming up short in the opening quarter, outscored 14-11, the Gee-Gees took control of their OUA contest, pouring in 31 second-quarter points and went on to hand Lakehead their first home-court defeat of the season at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse, a 78-59 loss that was just their second in 12 outings in 2024-25.
Thompson didn’t like the result, but isn’t pushing the panic button just yet, despite the Thunderwolves dropping a pair of non-conference games to the Winnipeg Wesmen over the Christmas break.
“I’m not concerned, big picture, about it. I think that’s something we can right and get on track,” Thomson said.
“They have a lot of length and they do a really good job of switching on and off the ball. But our offence got sticky at times because that’s what they want you to do. That’s their whole scheme – and it worked. For us, that’s something you’ve just got to play through and find ways to get the best shot together. We had a lot of good shots.”
At the very least, they had a lot of shots from distance, firing up 34 from beyond the arc on the night. But overall, the T-Wolves managed to bury just 19 of 75 shot attempts, only Nathan Bilamu having a decent night from the field, going 6-for-17, good for 21 points, more than any other player in the game.
They just couldn’t continue to capture the magic they created in the opening quarter, sparked in part by a rare four-point play by Chris Sagle to open the game, hitting a corner three and drawing a foul. Later in the first, Evan Nowak hit a three that gave the Thunderwolves a 12-6 advantage, but that was cut to three by quarter’s end.
Sagl opened the second with his second – and final – three pointer of the game, but Ottawa plugged away and took the lead for the first time on a Jacques-Melaine Guemeta three-pointer. Harold Santacruz tied the game 19-19, but Dragan Stajic responded with a bucket that put the Gee-Gees up 21-19, a lead they’d never relinquish.
A Justin Ndjock-Tadjore dunk stretched the Ottawa lead to eight and after he dunked again in the final minute of play, the Wolves turned the ball over and Ndjock-Tadjore drove the lane and lifted the ball into the net as the buzzer sounded to end the half. The Gee-Gees in front 42-30, Ottawa closing the quarter on a 5-0 run.
They scored the first seven points of the third – and more accurately, Ankit Choudhary scored the first seven points of the third to give Ottawa a 49-38 lead.
LU went on a run of their own, scoring eight straight points to cut the Gee-Gees lead to eight, Bliamu successful on a four-point play.
But Owen Kenney and Khalifa Koulamallah hit back-to-back threes that pushed Ottawa out in front 55-38 and the Gee-Gees never looked back.
Lakehead hosts Toronto Metropolitan (8-2) for a pair at home next Friday and Saturday night.
