Dinkins scores 26, Thunderwolves score late win over Wesmen

Manny Furtado is not above playing head games with his top players.

He did his best on Thursday to get under the skin of second-year forward Bacarius Dinkins, telling him he thought Winnipeg Wesmen forward Jelane Pryce was a better player.

It worked.

Dinkins, a Jonesville, Fla. native in his fourth year of eligibility, was an absolute monster down the stretch, scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter and hauling in five of his 11 rebounds on the night to power the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team to a 78-73 come-from-behind triumph in front of the home-court Thunderdome crowd.

“As soon as the game was over he just came up to me and said, ‘Don’t ever say that again,’” said Furtado, his team improving to 3-0 in pre-season play.

“He’s very good. Some times he’s going to struggle, but we’ve got to give him some touches so that kind of stuff can happen. We went into the second half with an emphasis of getting him the ball in certain spots. We did and the end result was him getting to the free-throw line, him making some baskets or even creating for other people.”

The Wolves, who trailed by as many as 10 in the second quarter, were down five late in the fourth when Dinkins went to work, hitting back-to-back buckets that pulled Lakehead to within a point.

Alex Robichaud drained one from beyond the arc to give the Wolves their first lead since the first, when a Henry Tan basket made it 8-7.

Pryce answered immediately with a three-pointer of his own, putting Winnipeg up one, 68-67. But Dinkins went back-to-back again and Tan put it out of reach in the final minute with a long-distance bomb.

Dinkins would finish with 26, tying Pryce for the game-high total, while Tan chipped in 24 for the Wolves, who hit 21 of 34 shots in the second half.

Defensively, Furtado would like to see his troops rein things in a bit and understand what the opposition is offering up.
Knowing is half the battle, he said.

“If someone can’t shoot, I’m not sure why we’re getting beat off the dribble or our angle is pretty bad. We told these guys all week it’s going to be an inside game for (Winnipeg). They’re not really strong from the perimeter and they’re going to go inside. But they got their post touches, they got inside on penetration,” said Furtado, acknowledging it was bit discouraging to watch unfold.

Winnipeg out-rebounded Lakehead 35-34, 15 of them coming off the offensive glass.

But better to make mistakes now, when the games don’t count in the standings, Furtado said.

“That’s why you do these games. You look at a guy like Quincy Johnson. He played 23 minutes and it’s his third game in the CIS. It’s kind of still a baptism by fire kind of thing and we’ve got to get some other guys some minutes in case down the stretch we need them or with an injury right away, whatever the case may be.”

Johnson hit one three-pointer, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot in his limited minutes.

The two sides square off again on Friday. Tip-off is 8 p.m.