How close was Friday night's game between the Lakehead Thunderwolves and Winnipeg Wesmen?
Let's just say there were 10 lead changes in the fourth quarter alone.
The Wesmen, buoyed by the clutch three-point shooting of Travis Krahn down the stretch and the steady hand of Jordan Clennon at the free-throw line with the outcome in the balance, hung on to eke out a come-from-behind 90-89 Thunderdome triumph.
Clennon hit six straight free throws in the waning seconds of a truly back-and-forth contest, while Krahn’s final three of the night – his fifth of the game – pushed Winnipeg in front for good with less than a minute to play.
It also took the wind out of the Thunderwolves sails, coming moments after Alex Robichaud had turned the same three-point trick at the other end of the court to give Lakehead its unlucky 13th lead of the night.
LU coach Manny Furtado said the finish wasn’t what he hoping to see from his squad, who led 65-61 through three quarters.
“I’m a little discouraged with our effort in the fourth quarter, giving up 29 points and not sticking to the game plan,” Furtado said.
“We got lucky last week where we still came out with the victory and didn’t stick with our game plan, but against this team, I’m not surprised. We had a bad week of practice and that’s my fault. I didn’t prepare these guys the way I should have.”
Never down by more than five points and never up by more than six, the Wolves kept pace with their opponent, but neither side could truly break free and build any kind of lasting momentum.
Trailing by one late in the third, Bacarius Dinkins hit the bucket and completed the three-point play to lift the Wolves out in front, then off a steal scored again to stretch the lead to four, an advantage they’d take into the final quarter.
The Wesmen fought back quickly to tie, only to surrender a Ryan Doornick trey. Down five, they caught a break after Ryan Oirbans, who would later foul out, was fouled as the 24-second clock ran out. He hit one of two, then sank a basket to pull Winnipeg within two. The lead changed on the next five possessions and eight of the next nine, before the Wesmen went ahead for good.
Furtado said they just didn’t do their homework, allowing Winnipeg’s best shooters to fire off 11 three-pointers, many of them uncontested or barely contested.
“These guys have to realize they’ve got to take it personally,” Furtado said. “If you’ve got a match-up and you’re supposed to be guarding someone, you’ve got to take things away and play defence to make them uncomfortable. And we didn’t do that tonight.”
Alex Robichaud, who hit a desperation three at the final buzzer hoping for a foul call that could have tied the game, led the Wolves with 21. Dwayne Harvey finished with 19, to go with 13 assists, falling a rebound short of a triple-double. Anthony McIntosh had 16 points and eight boards.
Clennon led Winnipeg with 21, while Krahn poured in 15 and Jelane Pryce had 13.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon at the Thunderdome. Game time is 4 p.m.
