Off to nationals

Venzal Russell has delivered a second consecutive trip to the CIS nationals for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Russell buried a jump-shot with less than a second to play in regulation, earning the Wolves a 71-69 triumph in the first of two OUA Final Four semifinals played Friday in Hamilton.

Greg Carter, named the OUA defensive player of the year earlier in the day, then blocked a desperation shot from just outside the paint by Ottawa’s Nemanja Baletic to send the Wolves to Halifax next weekend, their second consecutive trip to the Final Eight.

Russell, a native of Detroit who led the Wolves with 17 points, said Lakehead has been readying itself for just such a scenario all week, so when the game was on the line, they were ready – despite knowing they’d blown a 13-point halftime lead.

“Man, I don’t know, it’s just unbelievable. We’ve been working on closing games all week, putting four minutes on the clock and coach putting the starters down five and having to battle back in a situation just like this. And it came to us,” Russell told Thunder Bay’s Glenn Schiiler, who was working the sidelines for The Score.

The Wolves held tough, despite missing their first nine shots of the final quarter and allowing the Gee Gees to battle back from a 63-53 deficit after three.

LU coach Scott Morrison was able to keep his troops calm and focused in the face of adversity, using his own experience as momentum.

“We’re a family,” Russell told the network. “We’ve been through adversity. Coach said he’s been losing for seven years, so if anybody’s a victim, it’s him. So we just stayed strong and we just got the win.”

The Wolves, who led 22-12 after one and upped their lead by three at the half, used their strength on the glass to out-muscle Ottawa on Friday, grabbing 14 offensive boards to just two by the Gee Gees. It helped them overcome a poor performance by OUA East all-star Jamie Searle, who didn’t score once from the floor, his only baskets a pair of key free throws in the final minute that pulled LU even at 69-69.

Searle was also key on the ensuing possession by Ottawa forcing a steal that gave the Wolves the chance to win it in regulation.

It wasn’t how Morrison wanted to win, but a victory’s a victory, he said.

“It was a good first half and a good last minute, and a lot of prayers thrown up,” Morrison said, reached by phone in Hamilton.

With Ottawa in possession of the ball, the game tied and time rapidly ticking down in the final minute, Morrison called a timeout and told his team not to panic and not to do anything stupid.

He wasn’t looking for a basketball miracle.

He got one.

“Really, we were just looking to go into overtime,” he said. “Obviously Searle did a great job. I said we had to try to cheat off the inbounds. He did and got the steal and gave us the chance to win the ball game. It feels pretty good.”

The Wolves will play Carleton on Saturday in the OUA final, their first-ever shot at a league championship. The undefeated Ravens kept their 23-game win streak alive, dumping Laurier 83-76 in the other semi.

Russell opened the game with a three-pointer for LU, the sign of things to come. Lakehead was 10-for-28 from three-point territory including three straight from rookie forward Ben Johnson in the first quarter.

Lakehead post Yoosrie Salhia continued the hot streak into the second, scoring the first four points of the quarter, part of a 15-2 run that gave them a 14-point advantage.

Carter and Matt Schmidt buried threes later in the period to push the lead to 16, then Joseph Jones slammed home a thundering breakaway dunk to make it 38-20.

But Ottawa kept pounding away, scoring five straight and a 9-4 run to end the half.

Lakehead maintained its double-digit lead for most of the third, denying Ottawa’s rookie coach James Derouin his goal of cutting the lead to seven points.

The fourth quarter started out innocently enough, with Louis Gauthier, who had a game-high 18, hitting a pair of foul shots, something the Gee Gees didn’t do well in the opening half.

Christopher Anderson knocked down a pair of buckets – and missed a three-pointer to boot – to make it 63-59.

OUA all-star Warren Ward, who only managed 10 points on the night, cut the lead to two, before Russell scored LU’s first points of the fourth 6:20 into the period. Gauthier then buried a three after the Wolves were called for an eight-second half-court violation, and one possession later, after a Salhia basket, Baletic made it 67-67 with a three with 2:20 to go.

Gauthier then gave Ottawa its first and only lead of the game with 35 seconds left.

The Wilson Cup championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Saturday night at McMaster University.