Men’s basketball team beats Badgers by 20 in Thunderdome

Lakehead’s men’s basketball team continued its successful second half of the season on Friday night, beating the Brock Badgers by a score of 94-74. The win brings Lakehead to 10-13 and moves them up into 5th in the OUA West, ahead of the McMaster Marauders. Brock drops to 15-8, firmly entrenched in the OUA West 3rd spot.

“This was a good team win against a talented Brock squad,” Thunderwolves coach Ryan Thomson said.

Brock, who had gone 8-2 in their last ten games and has been on the bubble of the USPORTS national top ten during the season, came out with a team-oriented attack in the first quarter, as four different Badgers scored more than 2 points in the frame. Lakehead, however, anchored by Lock Lam’s 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 blocks in the opening period, battled Brock to an even score, and it was 18-18 when the second quarter began. The Badgers doubled their efforts in the second with four more players adding to their scoring count, and Lakehead was down 42-34 at half.

“We can’t afford to have the same sort of slow start tomorrow night,” Thomson said.

The second half was a different story altogether. Isaiah Traylor and Nick Burke picked up the slack for the Thunderwolves, with Burke scoring 10 and Traylor adding 7 points of his own in the third period. Traylor hit two deep threes and was 2-3 overall from the floor in the period, while Burke also went 2-3 from the floor while adding 6 out of 8 free throws. Lakehead’s aggressive play forced the Badgers into committing 10 team fouls in the third. The final quarter was more of the same, as Lakehead outscored Brock 31-16 in the final period, and 60-32 in the second half as a whole.

“I was impressed with our composure down the stretch, and with our willingness to share the ball and get good shots,” Thomson said.

The Thunderwolves were led by steady senior Nick Burke’s 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Lock Lam was also all over the court for the Thunderwolves, scoring 18 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and blocking 5 shots. Isaiah Traylor led Lakehead in scoring with 22 points and added 8 rebounds, while Davarius Wright scored 16 points off the bench.

Notably, Johneil Simpson, who is currently 3rd in the OUA in points per game, was held to 13 points on 5-18 shooting by Lakehead’s defense. Simpson went 2-10 from downtown.

The two teams return to the court tomorrow evening at 8pm for a rematch, each team’s final game of the OUA regular season.

Special note: Saturday’s games will also feature a celebration of our senior players from both the men’s and women’s basketball teams.