THUNDER BAY – One team was coming off an upset win of the No. 3 team in the nation.
The other was still reeling from an 85-point loss to the top team in the country only six days earlier.
On Friday night, they met somewhere in the middle.
The York Lions (1-10) gave the No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves everything they could handle, but in the end couldn’t quite pull off the monumental upset on the road, falling 85-83 when Prince Kumunga’s buzzer-beating attempt couldn’t beat the shot clock.
“They came up after a tough loss. That’s what teams do,” said Lakehead’s Isaiah Traylor, whose 27-point, 12-rebound effort was a large part of the reasons the Wolves were able to pull out a second straight win and improve to 8-3 with just one game left before the Christmas break.
“Basketball is a game of runs and we came out lackadaisical and they punched us in the face from the start of the game. We’re just thankful we came out with the win.”
Lakehead coach Ryan Thomson said his team might have taken the last-place Lions a bit for granted, as they climb the top 10 ladder and re-establish the Thunderwolves as one of the top basketball programs in Canada.
“Yeah, I think that’s a fair assessment. We’re kind of banged up, but at the same time, everyone is at this point,” Thomson said. “We didn’t have the best week of practice. Guys are tired and we’re trying to manage that. But we’ve just got to be ready to go from the jump. We weren’t tonight.”
Lakehead squeaked out a one-point lead after the opening quarter, but the Lions looked anything but a team with one win in the second, thanks in part to some timely long-range shooting.
Kamunga, who tied Traylor with a game-high 27, hit back-to-back three-pointer to launch an 8-0 run that gave York a 35-28 advantage. They’d lead by as much as eight late in the period, when Nick Russell hit consecutive threes of his own, and took a 42-36 lead into the half.
It took the Thunderwolves five minutes in the third to finally get back to even ground and they went in front for good when Traylor beat the buzzer to put the Wolves in front 62-60.
Lakehead upped their lead to as much as nine in the fourth, but didn’t do themselves any favours at the charity stripe, missing three free-throws in the final three minutes that could have put the game away for good. They missed 11 in total on the night.
Instead the Lions battled back once more, Connor Lalonde hitting a three-pointer and following that with a two-point basket to erase a five-point Lakehead lead with a minute to go.
Both teams had chances down the stretch, but it was Msambya who delivered the win to the delight of the nearly packed C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse, burying a pair of free throws.
Lock Lam, who fouled out late in the fourth, finished with 14. Msambya and Eric Gonzalez had 13 apiece for the home side. Lalonde had 17 for York, losers of eight straight.
The Thunderwolves and Lions meet again on Saturday night. Tip-off is 8 p.m.
