Nick Burke's not sure he's seen a crazier finish than Friday night's OUA season opener.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves guard had a chance to put the game away with a last-minute free throw, after coming through in the crunch with pair of tough baskets in the paint that extended the LU lead to three.
He missed.
Moments later, the Wolves leading by a single point, took the ball out of bounds with a dozen seconds left.
But instead of calling a timeout, guard Alex Robichaud tried to inbound the ball. The Gryphons smothered his teammates and Robichaud was called for a five-second violation. The Wolves turned it over deep in their own territory, giving the visiting Guelph Gryphons a chance to close out the contest.
The Wolves appeared to stave off the Gryphons attack, but fouled Jack Beatty and sent him to the line with a chance to win it with a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining,
Shockingly, he missed them both, the hometown fans hitting the Richter scale to distract the fifth-year veteran.
When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the Thunderwolves had escaped with a 65-64 triumph.
“It was an eventful sequence,” said Burke, a first-year guard paired with Henry Tan in the Lakehead backcourt.
“I got to the rim twice and I think I got two layups, but I missed my free-throw after the timeout and then after it was just helter skelter, just trying to fight for the rebound, just trying to hang on for a one-point win. Luckily the guy missed two free throws.”
Wolves coach Manny Furtado, quick to jump on his players when they do wrong, was full of praise after the win.
“I think I’ve got to thank our guys, to be honest,” the second-year coach said. “I could have looked real bad there not calling that timeout and then we turned it over, giving them some hope.”
Seeing Beatty head to the line with the outcome hanging in the balance was not a pleasant feeling, he admitted.
“I’m not going to lie, I was sick to my stomach, just sitting there thinking if he hits these two, this is bad, this is on me, after these guys worked so hard.”
The two teams battled from start to finish.
Lakehead jumped out in front, scoring the first seven points of the contest, but the Gryphons stormed back and the Wolves needed an Alex Robichaud three-pointer late in the second to take a 34-33 lead into the half, erasing a six-point Gryphons lead late in the second.
Both sides had plenty of chances to pull away for good in the second half, but for the Wolves in particular, the easy buckets underneath just didn’t fall. Forward Bacarius Dinkins struggled most of the night, the ball failing to find the mesh on all but two of his shots.
But where there's a will, there's a way. If the offence isn't working, the defence can step up. And step up it did.
Tan, who led all scorers with 16, gave the Thunderwolves the lead for good late in the fourth, following a shot-clock violation laid on the Gryphons offence.
Burke finished with 13 while Robichaud had a dozen points and just missed the double-double with nine rebounds.
Daniel Dooley paced Guelph with 12, one of three players in double digits.
