THUNDER BAY – Eric Gonzalez and Laoui Msambya hit back-to-back three-pointers to open Friday night’s home game against the Guelph Gryphons.
The never once relinquished the lead.
The Wolves led wire-to-wire and downed the visiting Gryphons 87-81, Msambya and Michael Okafor each scoring 23 points, Okafor also grabbing 10 rebounds to pick up the double-double to pace LU to a second straight OUA triumph in their first game in 76 days.
Lakehead led by as much as 17 in the second quarter, taking a 14-point lead into the break, but couldn’t keep the momentum going in the second half, the undermanned Gryphons determined to pick up their second win of the season at the expense of their hosts.
Guelph scored on a 100-point pace in the second half, a rate Lakehead coach Ryan Thomson would like to see dialed back in Saturday’s rematch.
“I thought the effort was good. I think in the second half we took our foot off the pedal defensively,” Thomson said. “We gave up 50 points in the second half. The difference was just giving up straight-line drives and not being as active in the gaps as we were in the first half.”
The difference proved to be their shooting in the second quarter. LU hit 12 of 20 shots, 10 of 14 from inside the arc, and built a 14-point lead after 20 minutes.
Guelph turned the tables in the third, hitting 55.6 per cent of their shots, including three of four three-pointers, though only managed to close the gap to 10, thanks in part to a flurry in the final minute by the Thunderwolves, who scored six straight points in the last 51 seconds of the period. Okafor punctuated the rally with a thunderous dunk, one of three he made on the night.
Malcolm Glanville, who topped all Gryphons with 19 points, cut the gap to four with a key basket in the final minute, but Alston Harris hit his final free throws with 12 seconds on the clock, too much for Guelph to make up with so little time left.
“I thought the guys played through a lot of fatigue. I think that’s going to be the challenge this weekend and next,” said Thomson, his players not used to so much game activity after taking more than two months off, first for Christmas and later for COVID-19 reason, the OUA pausing the season until Jan. 24, before the province took the restart date out of the league’s hands.
Court shots: The Wolves lost Jamani Barrett and Ryan Brooks over the break. Both players decided not to return to Lakehead for the second half.
“After essentially two months of no training as a team, it’s tough to come back in 10 days and be ready to go. We expect some of the turnovers, but to be honest I was impressed we only turned the ball over 10 times. We forced them into 16. I think we took a couple of shots that were kind of tired shots, where we settled a little bit. But at the end of the day, I’m pretty pleased with how we came out,” Thomson said.
The Gryphons were without Rasheed Weekes, who averages 20.3 points a night, slightly less than the 20.6 averaged by Glanville, the No. 7 scorer in the OUA, one slot ahead of Okafor, who averages 19.9 a night.
Harris and Dylan Morrison also joined the double-digit club, each picking up 10 for LU. Guelph had four players in double figures. Khalid Ismail finished with 18, Keenan Dowell had 16 an Viktor Nausedas had a dozen.
Guelph (1-6) and Lakehead (4-5) will meet again on Saturday night. The sold-out contest is scheduled for 8 p.m.
