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Basketball: Wolves claw Bobcats, complete preseason sweep

THUNDER BAY -- Three quarters of strong basketball isn’t enough for Manny Furtado.
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Lakehead centre Brent Wallace (14) attempts to put a shot against Bobcats defender Ryan Cowley during their non-conference game Saturday afternoon at the CJ Sanders Fieldhouse. (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- Three quarters of strong basketball isn’t enough for Manny Furtado.

Despite carrying a 30 plus point lead into the final minutes of their Saturday afternoon preseason game, the new head coach of the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball was left with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.

“Yes, I’m (happy) for the first three quarters but for that fourth quarter, no. I think for us to get to where we need to be it has to be a 40 minute game. We can’t take a possession off here and there,” he said.

“Everyone from No. 1 to 15 has a job to do when they step on the floor and I don’t think they did that in the fourth quarter. We gave up way too many points, way too many layups and way too many threes,”

Even with the late defensive slippage, the Thunderwolves still roared to a 95-77 win over the Brandon Bobcats at the CJ Sanders Fieldhouse to complete the weekend non-conference sweep.

That makes Furtado two-for-two in his first game action since replacing long-time program boss Scott Morrison, who is now the head coach of the NBA D-League’s Maine Red Claws.

The coach isn’t the only new face as Lakehead was led offensively by two rookies who came off the bench.

Forward Bacarius Dinkins, a Florida native in his third year of eligibility, notched a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. First-year guard Ryan Doornick chipped in 17 points while going 3-6 from downtown.

Dinkins, and his menacing play down low caught the attention of veteran guard Dwayne Harvey, who is glad he only has to fight over the ball with him in practice.

“He’s really athletic, crashing after rebounds,” said Harvey, who finished the contest with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. “When he wants to get the ball there aren’t many who can jump with him or even really bang with him. He’s really strong.”

Unlike the night before where the eked out an 88-81 win, the outcome of this one was essentially decided in the first half.

Lakehead opened the contest on an 11-0 run that catapulted them to a 29-11 lead after the first 10 minutes. The backcourt duo of Harvey and Ashaunti Hogan accounted for nearly half of their points, with the 5th year senior Harvey picking up eight and Hogan contributing six with a pair of threes.

The Thunderwolves defence continued to keep the Brandon offence under wraps through the rest of the first half, forcing seven turnovers and keeping the Bobcats to a 29 per cent shooting rate from the field, en route to a 50-27 lead.

Lakehead entered the fourth quarter with a 76-46 edge but were outscored 31-19 in the final frame by the visitors.

Though the output on the offensive end has been impressive, it is the defence that is expected to create easy scoring opportunities for a run-and-gun style.

“We don’t really stress that much on offence,” Furtado admitted. “We want to run and push the temp so I think a lot of our stuff is going to come from our transition.”

“We’re always going to rely on our defence. We’re going to have nights like (this weekend) where we really didn’t shoot the ball that well.”

It was on the boards where Lakehead established their dominance most firmly, outrebounding the Bobcats by a 53-23 margin including 24 on the offensive glass.

Being tenacious and aggressive chasing down rebounds has been one significant area of focus for Furtado since taking over the reins.

“We always have to have guys out rebounding. We always want everybody getting after it whether you’re a 5’8” guard or a 7’0” post. Everybody has to rebound,” he said.

“The more possessions we can get for ourselves, great. The less possessions they can get is just going to help us in the long run.”

Beyond the arc: Ten different players saw playing time for the Wolves with only Hogan, Dinkins, Alex Robichaud and Addy Ogunye seeing more than 20 minutes…Injured point guard Henry Tan said he doesn’t expect to be able to suit up until November at the earliest, though he conceded he might not see game action until January…The Wolves continue their preseason slate next weekend with a home series against the Winnipeg Wesmen.





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