Thunderwolves open weekend with win over winless Nipissing

The first order of business is taken care of, but the weekend is only half over.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team found its way back into the win column on Friday night, Henry Tan posting 22 points and Bacarius Dinkins adding 19, six rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the home side to a 75-63 win over the visiting Nipissing Lakers.

The loss extends the second-year Lakers losing streak to 24, the team still seeking its first win since joining the OUA last season.
This was definitely a different Nipissing squad than the one that rolled over last season, the Wolves scoring a convincing 43-point road victory.

No, this Lakers team is much improved and a lot more balanced.

And while they picked up their fifth straight loss to start the 2015-16 season, they kept pace with the Thunderwolves (2-3) for the first 37 minutes, not letting double-digit deficits get them down.

Each time Lakehead established a large lead, the Lakers seemingly had an answer.

The Wolves opened the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead, up 55-42. Within minutes Nipissing had clawed back within six points, a 9-0 run punctuated by a pair of Marvin Ngonadi buckets and a couple more from the free-throw line.

It was far from a perfect win, said Lakehead coach Manny Furtado.

“Our guys competed tonight and gave it everything they had, which is great to see,” Furtado said. “We need to clean up some execution things down the stretch so we don’t let teams back into the game. We now need to focus on getting physically and mentally prepared for Laurentian.”

Although the Thunderwolves did a decent job keeping the Nipissing attack from hitting its shots, Jordon Campbell still managed to post 18 points, two more than Ngonadi.

But Lakehead limited its mistake, turning the ball over just 11 times and hit seven three-pointers, about 30 per cent of all shots from downtown.

The Lakers started strong, scoring the first two buckets of the ballgame, but the Thunderwolves quickly set the offensive pace, rolling off 10 straight points and led 16-13 after one.

The upped the lead to nine at the half and finally hit double digits early in the third, Dinkins slamming home a two-handed dunk for emphasis as they went up 43-32. After the Lakers cut the lead to seven, Taner Parrington scored back-to-back baskets, then Brandon Persad dropped his only shot of the night, a three-pointer that made it 52-40 late in the third.

Parington would later limp off to the trainer’s table with an apparent injury, but returned to action in the fourth.

The Wolves take on the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs (1-4) on Saturday night at 8 p.m.