Basketball Wolves escape with win

The Lakehead Thunderwolves remain unbeaten in exhibition play, but the men’s basketball squad certainly made it interesting on Friday night.

The Wolves survived a last-second, potential game-winning shots at the hands of the host Brandon Bobcats, eking out a 72-71 win to improve to 3-0 in non-conference action.

Venzal Russell tallied 23 points and added five boards for Lakehead, who will take on Brandon again on Saturday. Ben Johnson and Brendan King each had 11 in the win. Donavon Gayle led the Bobcats with 19.

“I’m not sure we deserved to win, but we are very excited that Brandon’s last-second attempt did not fall. The Bobcats came our pressuring the ball and crashing the glass. We did not help ourselves by doing a poor job on ... defence and giving Brandon some easy looks. We escaped with a win and need to learn from tonight as if it was a loss,” said LU coach Scott Morrison in a release issued by the school’s athletic department.