THUNDER BAY – Sometimes a 22-point loss can feel a little like a win – especially facing a dynasty like the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team.
There were plenty of positives on Friday night following the Lakehead Thunderwolves 79-57 loss to the No.1-ranked Ravens, who have captured 14 of the past 16 national championships, and at 8-0 are gearing up for yet another title run.
The Wolves became just the second team all season to hold Carleton below 80 points and even managed to outscore their opponent 20-17 in the third quarter, a rarity against a team averaging 29-point wins in 2017-18.
“We had a lot of turnovers in the first half, which gave them the big lead in the beginning,” said Wolves forward Quincy Johnson, the lone Wolves player to hit double figures with an 11-point night that included a trio of treys.
“If we can fix all of those things, then we’ll be better next game.”
While the loss extended LU’s season-long winless streak to seven games, Johnson said he’s proud of the way his team responded in the third, after being out-muscled 23-6 in a lopsided second quarter.
“They’re always up on us and all the pressure. We just had to get through that in the first (half), because we’re not too used to that,” Johnson said.
“Once we got through that, I think we were better in the third.”
Lakehead managed to hang with the Ravens in a back-and-forth opening quarter that came to a close with the Ravens leading 20-15.
Nick Burke and Johnson buried back-to-back treys early in the third then Kache Kopec fired up a bomb of his own, cutting Carleton’s lead to 50-30.
It’s that perseverance that caught the eye of Lakehead coach Manny Furatado – a former assistant at Carleton.
“Our team right now, that is the hardest that I think we’ve competed all year, which I’m hoping these guys can take with us going the rest of the year. That’s what you need. You need to compete at that level,” Furtado said.
“We did it in spurts. The first quarter was great. The first couple of minutes of the second quarter were great and then we fell asleep and they pounced on us. We won the third quarter, which is great to see, because we responded and then in the fourth quarter fatigue kicked in for us.”
Forward Eddie Eklyor paced the Ravens attack with 20 points, playing just 22 minutes as Ravens assistant coach Rob Smart was able to rest his starters for much of the night.
Cameron Smythe and T.J. Lall also hit double-digits, with 11 points apiece.
Smart, the nephew of legendary Ravens coach Dave Smart, said the Wolves gave a pretty good effort for a team still seeking its first win.
“They played hard. They out-rebounded us,” Smart said. “There’s no question. That’s a big part of our game and that’s not a good sign. Credit to them, they battled. In the second quarter we finally had a lineup that I thought really wanted to play at the level they wanted to play at and we played well.”
Next up for Lakehead is a visit on Saturday by the No. 9-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees (5-2). Tip-off is 8 p.m.
