THUNDER BAY – A 67-point opening half made the rest of the contest feel a little like a cakewalk.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves, buoyed by fantastic performances from Nathan Bilamu, who earned his 1,000th point in an LU uniform, Chris Sagl and Harold Santacruz, went on to torch the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds 102-86.
It was the first time since last January that the Wolves cracked the century mark, a milestone they hit just once in regular-season play during the 2023-24 campaign.
Bilamu and Santacruz tied for the team lead with 21 points each and Sagl was burying threes from Nipigon, hitting five in total, to lead Lakehead past their Sault Ste. Marie rivals, Lakehead winning the last six games against the Thunderbirds, their last loss to Algoma exactly six years earlier in the 2018-19 campaign.
“I think it’s just our offence,” Bilamu said. “Everyone touches the ball. Everyone has opportunities to score off of our offence, whether it’s a pick-and-roll or hand-offs. We get the ball moving from side-to-side a lot with our offence. That fact puts us in position that we can all score points immediately.”
It was all Bilamu and Santacruz in the early going.
Bilamu, a fourth-year guard, scored back-to-back buckets to open the game, and then, after Algoma’s Marcus Johnson put up five straight points to give the Thunderbirds their only lead of the night, Santacruz took over, driving the lane twice and completing the three-point plays each time on the charity stripe.
Bilamu responded with a three-pointer, one of two he’d hit on the night, and a Marcus Alsonso steal and score upped the LU lead to 15-7.
They’d end the first with a 29-18 lead, then put up 38 points in a near perfect second quarter, taking a 28-point lead into the half.
Sagl’s early success from distance opened the floor, which could be key to any Lakehead success going forward.
He finished with 15 on the night and credited his teammates for their basketball awareness.
“They just do a good job of showing themselves and getting themselves in good spots. They make it really easy for me,” Sagl said.
“We were just playing well together. We were playing really smooth. We were just playing really freely. (Coach Ryan) Thomson gives us a ton of confidence to go out there and do what we practice, do what we’ve worked on individually – and he believes in us.”
The only question that remained after the break was whether or not the Thunderwolves would be able to crack the century mark.
They got there, but barely, Thomson choosing to give most of his starters long stints on the bench, with the game long decided.
A 14-0 run by the Thunderbirds to finish the contest made the final score a little closer than reality suggested, but all in all, Thomson was impressed.
“I think guys were prepared to play. It’s tough on the second night of a back-to-back, especially playing a team that didn’t play last night, so you know you’re going to be a little more banged up,” Thomson said.
“It’s one of the strengths of our team, our depth, and guys being prepared to contribute in different ways every weekend.”
Rookie Keylian Coulibaly made a strong first impression, putting up 16 points, including three thunderous dunks, playing 18 minutes off the bench.
Johnson led all scorers with 30 points, one two Algoma players to hit double-digits.
