Lakehead Beats Brock 82-73 in Game 1

The Lakehead Thunderwolves jumped out to a 24-15 first quarter lead and then played steady enough to hold off a charging Brock Badgers team on Jason Pearson Memorial night.

Venzal Russell had a solid game for Lakehead dropping 23 points on 10-21 shooting. Russell added 13 rebounds 8 assists and 5 steals.

Playing without Yoosrie Salhia and Brendan King, who have logged the majority of the minutes at the "5" spot this year, the 'Wolves received excellent production from Matthew Schmidt (17 points / 8 rebounds) and Adam Johnson (15 points on 7-12 shooting). Ben Johnson was also in double-figures dropping 12 points and 3 assists in 39 minutes of play.

Brock was led by Andrew Ferguson who had 19 and 6 rebounds as well as a huge game from Mark Gibson who returned from injury to score 17 and grab 16 rebounds. Tshing Kasamba had 15 points and 8 rebounds and Andrew Kraus had 11.

Coach Morrison on the win:

On the one hand we played hard and received some good production from our bench 'bigs' in the absence on Salhia and King. On the other hand we had the chance to put Brock away in the 2nd half and let them back in the game with sloppy transition defense and some poor turnovers. We also gave Brock some good looks on penetration kick-outs by being a little slow on our rotations. Brock is short-handed but the guys they have out there are very talented and can shoot the ball - we have to do a better job getting back on D and containing middle penetration tomorrow night.

The two teams meet again tomorrow night at 8pm. The game is apparently not webcast - possibly due to Brock's use of HD quality equipment - however the quality of the game film for the coaches will be top notch.

theScore Features Lakehead Basketball in OUA Play-off Preview

Glenn Schiiler of theScore on the defending OUA Champs

Waterloo Game 2 Media & Highlights

Video Highlights (Lakehead 84 Waterloo 72)

"Alone in First" - TbNewswatch.com

Lakehead Completes Sweep of #2 Waterloo

FROM SID Hugh "Grapes" Mullally

Media Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 4, 2012

Thunderwolves Sweep Warriors

THUNDER BAY, ON -

The men's basketball team finished off a weekend sweep of the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday evening, winning 84-72.

Waterloo hung tough from beginning to end, refusing to give an inch to the OUA champs in their own house. Lakehead held a 40-27 advantage at halftime, and would keep pace with the Warriors' best efforts to close the gap in the second half, thanks to some solid shooting by Ryan Thomson and a solid showing at the free throw line as a team (19-22, 86%). Waterloo made the most of its trips to the charity stripe as well, going 16-for-19, 84% (Andrew Melbourne 9-for-9).

Ryan Thomson led the 'Wolves with 25 points (4-of-9 from three), 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Venzal Russell had 20 (2-of-3 from deep), 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Greg Carter had 8 points and 9 assists.

Waterloo's leading scorer was Mike Wright with a game-high 26 points to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and Andrew Melbourne finished with 14 points.

Coach Scott Morrison:

"While we are always happy to get two wins, I was not overly happy with our efforts this weekend. Yesterday our bench was locked in and our starters lackadaisical. Tonight I felt the opposite. This week our focus is on sharpening our team D and being ready to play each day. Waterloo has some tough young guards that are going to give people problems over the next few years including [Mike] Wright, who was very good this weekend."

The basketball teams will head to St Catharines next weekend for a series versus Brock.

OUA Standings note:

Lakehead got some help from McMaster earlier in the day, as they defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks, who had been to that point tied with Lakehead for 1st place in the OUA West, with Lakehead holding the tie breaker. With a record of 16-2, the T-Wolves have four regular season games remaining (vs Brock and Guelph).

Lakehead 84 Waterloo 74 (Game 1)

MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2011-12 SEASON

Lakehead Wins Ugly Vs Tough Waterloo Squad

The Lakehead Thunderwolves' starting five did not have one of their better games, but luckily for 'Wolves fans a four man bench crew of Adam Johnson (2nd Yr/Baltimore), Matthew Schmidt (4th Yr/TBay), Nate Wainwright (2nd Yr/Kapuskasing) and Joseph Jones (4th Yr/D.C.) saved the day with 52 points and 20 rebounds off the bench to hold off a scrappy Waterloo Warriors squad that would not go away.

Up 13 at the half, Lakehead could not put the Warriors away but counted on the bench to get the W. Adam Johnson led all scorers with 26 points and 9 rebounds, while Nate Wainwright connected on 4-7 from long range for 12 points. Schmidt added 9 points and Joseph Jones made up for some poor shooting (1-6) by collecting 9 rebounds. The only starter for Lakehead in double-figures tonight was Ben Johnson who connected on 3-5 from 3pt land to finish with 11 points. Greg Carter had a nice Vegas line of 7-7-7 and 2 steals in 37 minutes.

For Waterloo Mike Wright had a good scoring night with 19 points while Andrew Melbourne recorded a double-double with 14 and 9 boards. Zach Angelini also hurt LU hitting three straight 3s in the 4th quarter to help him 13 points 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Coach Morrison on the win:

Our starting five did not come focused to practice Thursday night and that missed opportunity really hurt them tonight. We came out flat on O, settling for quick shots instead of pounding the ball inside where we held a distinct size advantage against this opponent. Thankfully our bench guys really stepped up including Johnson, Schmidt, Wainwright and Jones - who's focus in practice carried over to strong play tonight. Credit to Waterloo - they outworked us on the glass and hit some tough shots to keep the game tight. We are going to have to execute much better tomorrow night to pull-off this sweep.

Every Weekend is Big As Waterloo Travels to TBay

From SID Hugh "Diesel" Mullally

Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2, 2012
THUNDER BAY, ON

The Skinny

The basketball teams will host the Waterloo Warriors for a weekend series as both T-Wolf squads jockey for playoff position. Game times are 6 and 8 pm, Friday and Saturday.

Webcast coverage will be available via SSN Canada, www.ssncanada.ca/games and play-by-play is available via CILU Radio, 102.7 FM, www.luradio.ca

Men's Match-up (T-Wolves 14-2; Warriors 4-12)

Coming off two big wins on the road in Windsor, Scott Morrison's team aims to finish off the season strong with 4 home games and 2 road games remaining, all against the bottom tier of OUA West opponents. Although Waterloo's record (4-12) could be taken as a comfort going into this weekend, the T-Wolves can take no opponent for granted, given they are two points behind Laurier for first place in the OUA West (with one game in hand). It's also worth noting that Waterloo did defeat the men's team last season.

Waterloo is led by veteran Cam McIntyre, whose status going into the weekend is unknown. He missed both of last weekend's games due to undisclosed reasons (possibly a nagging injury). He has averaged 13.4 PPG this season, and is a very potent threat from outside if not guarded closely. Warriors' guard Mike Wright has put up 14.8 points per contest.

Last Match-up Results

The Warriors took the first game of the double header in Waterloo last year, 79-65, before the 'Wolves recouped a 65-58 win the following evening. In both games Waterloo relied on a sagging defense to limit penetration and control rebounds, while giving up open looks to Lakehead shooters. In the Warriors' win, Lakehead shot 11-37 (30% from three point land), and didn't shoot much better the next game from distance (10-28, 36%), but played better defense to secure the win.

Coach Morrison's Message:

"We are nearing the stretch run in conference play and it starts to become more tempting to start looking towards the end of the season. We have to avoid just that and stay focused on having good practices and executing one game at a time. Waterloo defeated us last season thanks to some great team defense and strong shooting. We are going to have to gear up and give another top notch effort as a team this week."