THUNDER BAY – The MVP chants have already begun.
While the crowd at the CJ Sanders Fieldhouse might be slightly biased in Michael Okafor’s favour, the Thunderwolves star guard will likely at least merit being in the conversation when all is said and done, should he continue playing at a similar level the rest of the season.
Okafor on Saturday might have had his finest outing yet for the Thunderwolves (5-1), the former NCAA player putting up a tough 27 points, daring the Laurier Golden Hawks defenders to try to find some way to defend him in the paint.
He also stretched and played well beyond his 6-foot-4 frame, hauling in 14 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, leading the No. 9-and-climbing Thunderwolves to their fifth win in six games this season, knocking off a pesky Golden Hawks opponent 78-63 at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
It's a team that’s starting to believe in itself – not that they didn’t have that kind of confidence when camp broke late last month.
“We’re trying to build something here, trying to build a championship, trying to go to nationals, but I feel like with the group of guys that we have, coming back with the chemistry everyone has, it’s something different here,” said Okafor, coming off an 18-point game Friday night in an upset win over No. 2 Ottawa.
“With coach Ryan (Thomson) doing an excellent job, keeping us disciplined, I thing we’re going to do something great.”
Okafor says it starts in the locker room, the players telling themselves – and reinforcing it during the game – that they have to be the best team on the floor, no matter who the opponent might be.
“We can’t play down to the competition. So we went out there in the first quarter and tried to hold the lead and we did that all four quarters, so I think that’s what really set us ahead,” Okafor said.
The Golden Hawks (3-3) did grab an early lead in the first quarter, but the Wolves recaptured it and led 17-12 after the opening 10 minutes.
Okafor stopped and popped a three-pointer, then hit one-of-two free throws late in the second to extend LU’s lead to 33-23 and Laurier trailed 35-26 at the half.
They cut the lead to five with two straight buckets to open the second half, but Laoui Msambya answered with a three-pointer to restore an eight-point Lakehead lead.
Coach Ryan Thomson said Okafor might get a lot of the attention because of his numbers, but his fellow CEBL alumni Msambya was equally deserving of praise for his efforts against the Golden Hawks.
“Mike had a great game, but I think it’s equally worth mentioning Laoui. He had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. I mean, that’s pretty impressive, and as a group, to stay in single digits for turnovers against a team that’s physical and pesky in its defence is an accomplishment in itself,” Thomson said.
The T-Wolves led 50-38, but in the final minute of the third, in the penalty, sent Laurier to the charity stripe four straight times, twice after they couldn’t control the glass on a missed free throw. The Hawks only hit three of eight, doing themselves in a bit, but managed to stay within 10, trailing 51-41 after three.
They twice cut it to eight in the fourth, but Okafor and the Wolves were too much down the stretch, the LU guard scoring nine points in the final quarter to secure the win and a chance to move up in the top 10 rankings on Tuesday.
