THUNDER BAY – Manny Furtado had two words to describe Friday’s stunning collapse against the visiting Queen’s Gaels – gut-wrenching.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves were up by as much as 27 points in the third quarter, buoyed by a 25-point first-half performance from fifth-year guard Alex Robichaud.
But the Gaels ignored the scoreboard and rallied back, eking out a 76-75 win and outscoring the Wolves 27-6 in the final quarter, the victory not finalized until LU guard Henry Tan’s desperation last-second shot fell short at the buzzer.
The loss was almost too much to take, a disappointed Furtado said, after his team hit just nine of 24 shots in the second half, after a 17-for-35 performance in the opening 20 minutes.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” said Furtado, his team dropping to 1-5 in OUA play.
“I think defensively we were great for one half. We were average in the third and then fell apart in the fourth. Defensively, we did exactly what we weren’t supposed to do. We were supposed to front in the post. We didn’t. We weren’t supposed to foul, we fouled. The worst-case happened. They scored without the clock moving.”
Robichaud said the loss was doubly painful given the quick start by the Thunderwolves, something they’re not used to this season.
“I think in the second half we shied away from what worked in the first half. We didn’t move the ball around enough. We were holding onto the ball. We were getting the ball into people’s hands late in the shot clock, so we had to force the plays,” said Robichaud, who led all players with 32 points.
“At the end of the game, the shots just weren’t falling.”
Robichaud was a tour-de-force in the first half, dropping seven three-pointers on the Gaels, who entered the contest with a 3-1 record.
Guard Henry Tan chipped in 11 points in the first two quarters and would finish with 20.
But Queen’s made the adjustment at the half and tried to force the ball inside to a double-teamed Bacarius Dinkins, who connected for a pair of thunderous dunks, but couldn’t get the ball to drop with pressure in his face.
Robichaud said once the Gaels turned their focus to him, someone else had to step up.
They didn’t.
“We had a hard time putting the ball in the bucket. It’s a team game. One guy can only do so much. It’s got to be a team effort,” Robichaud said.
Dinkins finished with seven points – and no other Thunderwolves player reached double digits.
It was no single player who led the Queen’s charge.
Ross Vrana-Godwin nailed a three just past the four-minute mark, the Gaels in the midst of a game-changing 15-2 run.
Sukhpreet Singh, who led the visitors with 19, later buried a three of his own to pull the Gaels to within a point, the Wolves clinging to a 71-70 lead. They took their first lead of the night with 2:17 to go, Tanner Graham hitting a pair of free throws. Down three, Lakehead’s Nick Burke hit a three, just LU’s second field goal of the fourth, to tie the game 74-74, but he then missed a pair of potential go ahead threes, Singh putting Queen’s ahead for good from the charity stripe.
The Wolves, who were without guards Kashe Kopec and Mor Menashe, will take on York on Saturday, their final home game before the Christmas break.
