Monday, December 31, 2012

Lakehead 84 Winnipeg 67 Wesmen Classic Final (Highlights)

'Wolves Win Wesmen Classic Championship


Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 30, 2012
T-Wolves Claim Wesmen Classic Title Over Winnipeg, 84-67
WINNIPEG, Man. -
The men's basketball team finished the 46th Wesmen Classic in winning style, 84-67 versus the Winnipeg Wesmen to claim the tournament banner.

Both teams fought hard in the first half, with a halftime score of 32-27 for the T-Wolves. Matt Schmidt sparked a key Lakehead run in the third quarter, scoring a string of 11 Lakehead points to establish a lead that Winnipeg could not overcome.

Ryan Thomson would continue to hit three's down the stretch (5-9) to put the game out of reach, and a game-high 22 points with 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Yoosrie Salhia had a solid 12 points and 12 rebounds with 5 assists. Greg Carter had 12 points and 7 assists on 6-8 shooting.

Yoosrie Salhia won the tournament MVP award, while Ryan Thomson was named to the all-star team.

Leading the Wesmen was Benny Iko with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Steven Wesley had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Travis Krahn hit some desperation threes down the stretch to finish with 14 points (4-7 from three).

The Thunderwolves out-rebounded the Wesmen 37-28, and shot a blistering 13-25 from 3-points range.

Coach Scott Morrison:

"Overall I was quite pleased with our play this weekend. Winnipeg is a tough team and I thought our guys rose to the challenge for the majority of the game. We met our defensive goals for 10 out of 12 quarters this weekend - something we have to build on for a tough two months of OUA action coming up."

The men will resume OUA league action in 5 days against the Waterloo Warriors for a double header in Waterloo.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

LU Rolls to Wesmen Classic Final Tonight


Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 29, 2012
Hart Lights Up Hawks, Lakehead Wins 80-53
WINNIPEG, Man. -
The men's basketball team came away with another blow-out win in their second game of the Wesmen Classic, this one a 80-53 rout of the Dikinson State Blue Hawks.

Halftime showed a 41-28 Lakehead lead, and they were up 62-48 heading into 4th Q. The T-Wolves would deliver the coup-de-gras to any hope of a Blue Hawk comeback with a final 10 minutes of stifling defense and precision shooting, beating Dikinson State 18-5 in the final frame.

Once again Yoosrie Salhia and Ryan Thomson were running their two-man game, with Greg Carter directing traffic and his shooters from the top. The hot shooter tonight was Joe Hart (Southend, UK) who caught fire from behind the arc, hitting on 8 of his 12 long range attempts for a total 28 points in as many minutes of play. He would add 4 rebounds and 2 steals to his stat line. Salhia shot an efficient 8 of 10 from the field for 17 points with 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Thomson had 12 points and 6 rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting.

Carter finished with 10 assists, 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Joseph Jones came off the bench for 7 points with 5 assists in 21 minutes of play.

Dikinson State's top scorer was Johnie Sanders with 13 points on 6-8 shooting. Jarek Hansen added 11 points and 6 assists.

As a team Lakehead out-rebounded the Blue Hawks 36-34, and made 24 assists compared to only 8 for Dikinson. 

Coach Scott Morrison:

"We had a strong defensive 3 quarters that I was pleased with. That being said we can still improve our weak side rotations and transition D. Winnipeg is going to be a tough matchup for us tomorrow - they are one of the top teams in Canada West and playing good ball right now."

The men's weekend at the 46th annual Wesmen Classic will conclude tomorrow evening at 9pm ET against the host Winnipeg Wesmen

Friday, December 28, 2012

'Wolves Open Wesmen with Defeat of UNBC


Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 28, 2012
Thunderwolves Chop Down Timberwolves, 90-50 
WINNIPEG, MB -
The men's basketball team began their campaign at the 46th annual Wesmen Classic with a win over the U of Northern BC Timberwolves, 90-50 on Friday afternoon.

From the tip Lakehead showed defensive and rebounding intensity, limiting the Timberwolves' looks in the first quarter, leading 27-12 after 10. At the other end, Yoosrie Salhia and Ryan Thomson ran their hi-lo game to pick apart the UNBC defense, combining for 33 of Lakehead's 46 first-half points and a comfortable 20 point lead.

The third quarter saw much of the same, with Lakehead keeping the foot on the pedal and never looking back. LU went on a 10-1 run to begin the second half and would cruise from there.

Yoosrie Salhia led the Pack with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in 21 minutes of play and was named the Player of the Game. Ryan Thomson showed his scoring and his notably adept passing game with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists with no turnovers in 20 minutes of court time.

Sophomore Joey Nitychoruk (Winnipeg, MB) had a homecoming to be proud of with 10 rebounds, 8 points and 3 assists.

In terms of playing time management, it was an ideal way to begin a '3 games in 3 days' tournament, as all 11 dressed players got a chance to get back in the groove following the winter break. Ben Johnson clocked 30 minutes (6 pts, 6 assts), while no other T-Wolves played more than 22 minutes. Currently there are 3 players on the injured list for Lakehead (Anthony McIntosh, Brendan King and Nathan Wainwright).

For UNBC, Joel Rybachuk scored 9 points with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. 

As a team the Thunderwolves shot 50% (35-70) from the floor to UNBC's 27% (16-60) and out-rebounded UNBC 47-36; they also held a 29-10 advantage in assists. 

Coach Scott Morrison:

"Considering it was the first game back after a long break I was fairly pleased with our defensive effort today. UNBC has an explosive team and our guys did a good job setting the defensive tone early. Our goal will be to improve our execution each day and look to maintain a high level of energy for the entire tournament."


The men's next game will be tomorrow at 9:30 pm ET vs. the winner of the Brandon vs. Dikinson St. game played later today (3:00pm ET start)


*Please note*  (DICKINSON STATE BEAT BRANDON _ LIVE STATS ONLY TOMORROW)


Thursday, December 27, 2012

'Wolves Finish Non Conference Schedule at Wesmen Classic


Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 27, 2012
Holiday Basketball Preview: Women in Halifax, Men in Winnipeg
THUNDER BAY, Ont. -
Both basketball teams will be in action over the winter break, with the Women playing at the Thunder Selects CIS Holiday Classic, hosted by Saint Mary's in Halifax, while the Men will be challenging at the 46th Annual Wesmen Classic in Winnipeg.

Men (3-4 OUA, 11-7 overall)

The 46th annual Wesmen Classic, hosted by U of Winnipeg, will begin for the Thunderwolves against the U of Northern BC Timberwolves on Friday at 1pm ET. The two teams met in October of this year, resulting in a 88-72 win for the Thunderwolves. This time around they will be without bigs Anthony McIntosh and Brendan King (lower body injuries) along with sharpshooter Nathan Wainwright (upper body). UNBC's (5-5, 4th CW Pacific) last league game was a 93-90 win over the U Sask Huskies, and they figure in the CIS top 10 in PPG (82.6) and 3PT % (38.2). The Timberwolves also have 4 players averaging double digits in scoring.

LU's side of the draw also includes the Dikinson St. Blue Hawks (N. Dakota) and the Brandon Bobcats.

On the other side are the Winnipeg Wesmen, the Mount Royal U Cougars (Calgary, AB), Mayville St. Comets (N. Dakota) and Keyono College Huskies (Fort McMurray, AB).

Coach Scott Morrison:

"After a much needed rest we are excited to get back on the court this weekend at the Wesmen Classic. It's tough when you have to match up against a tough team like UNBC with minimal prep time, but at the same time our purpose for competing in this tournament is to prepare us for the OUA West schedule starting next week. The potent offensive attack that UNBC brings each time out will offer plenty of reps for our team's defense to get tuned up."

Webcast Coverage:
(coverage limited to games vs. Canada West teams via Canada West TV)


Dec 29 vs TBA

Dec 30 vs TBA

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Lakehead 93 York 57 (Highlights & Game Story)




Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2012
T-Wolves Throttle Lions, 93-58
THUNDER BAY, ON -
The men's basketball team (3-4) kept on rolling on Saturday night, with a convincing 93-58 win over the York Lions (4-4). Despite the lop-sided score, this was no walk in the park for Lakehead, with the score tied at 22 after the first quarter and a buzzer beating three ball from Richard Iheadindu. From there, however, Lakehead would put get its defence together and limit the Lions to 7 points in the second quarter, while scoring 18 of their own.

The second half would not see the Lions get any closer than the 40-29 halftime margin, as Lakehead out-scored them 28-15 in the third quarter and would roll from there.

Five Thunderwolves scored in double figures, led by Joseph jones (Washington, DC) with 17 points. Ben Johnson had his best home game of the season thus far with 15 points (6-10 shooting). In his second game back from injury, Ryan Thomson dropped 13 points with 5 rebounds. 

In the final 7 minutes of the game, Joseph Nitychoruk (Winnipeg, MB) would enter and put his exclamation mark on the game in the form of a one-handed put-back slam, totalling 7 points and 6 rebounds in limited time.

York had no player score in double digits, but had Nick Tufegdzich and Daniel Tulloch put in 8 points and 8 rebounds apiece.

Lakehead out-rebounded York 40-33.

Coach Scott Morrison:

"I was proud of our consistent effort over 40 minutes tonight. We weren't perfect on the defensive end but have our best effort of the semester in that regard. It was also good to see our ball movement pick up on offense this weekend. It was not our best semester, but we survived it and head into the break playing our best ball to finish up."



--
Hugh Mullally
Sports Information Director
Lakehead University Athletics
Office: 807 766 7157

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Lakehead 90 Laurentian 71 (Highlights)

'Wolves Win vs Laurentian


Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Movember 30, 2012
Salhia's Career Night Lifts T-Wolves
THUNDER BAY, ON -
Yoosrie Salhia had an incredible performance, and his team improved their record to 2-4 on the season with a 90-71 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs (5-2) Friday evening. It was also the first time in over a month that Lakehead fans saw Ryan Thomson in the line up, who has been recovering from an upper body injury.

Lakehead got to work early, breaking out to an 11-0 advantage. Laurentian would spend the first half battling back to tie the score at 41 going into the break. Lakehead would explode for 32 points in the third quarter, more than the Voyageurs would score the remainder of the game (30).

From start to finish, Salhia would take care of business on the block, although it should be noted that the Voyageurs never elected to double team the 5th year senior. Salhia exploited the single coverage and went 12-21 (57%) from the field and 8-10 from the line. Salhia's 32-point performance was the best of his career as a Thunderwolf, which he added to 5 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 28 minutes of play.

Supporting Salhia was a full team effort from his teammates. Dwayne Harvey was active on defense, picking up 5 steals, 8 rebounds and 6 points. Thomson would also grab 8 rebounds with 8 points and 5 assists in 23 minutes of play. Joe Hart (Southend, UK) filled it up from long range, hitting 4 of 5 attempts from behind the arc for a 14 point total. Senior point guard Greg Carter (Ottawa, ON) was the steady hand on the throttle of the Lakehead offense, with 7 assists, no turnovers with 7 rebounds and 8 points.

Laurentian had four players score in doubles figures, led by Nelson Yengue with 17 points and 5 rebounds, followed by Jamie Weldon (13), Alex Ratte (12) and Manny Pasquale with (11). Yengue also had 4 blocked shots.

Lakehead out-rebounded Laurentian 38-23.

Coach Scott Morrison:

"Its always nice to beat a tough team like Laurentian especially in the midst of a small slump that we have battled through the last couple of weeks. I thought tonight was our best game plan execution of the OUA season and we received strong energy for three quarters. I was still disappointed in our 2nd quarter effort where our hustle dropped as did our communication. It's a step in the right direction and the focus now becomes on taking a second positive step tomorrow night vs York."


The men play the York Lions tomorrow at 8 pm.

Webcast coverage via SSN Canada

Broadcast via CILU Radio, 102.7 FM


--
Hugh Mullally
Sports Information Director
Lakehead University Athletics
Office: 807 766 7157