Sweep secured

Max Allin is one of the best university basketball players in Canada.

The second-leading scorer in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Allin can be a game-changer if his opponents take him too lightly.

On Saturday night he got his 24 points, more than double his output from Friday’s loss to the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
But score as he might, Allin was never in control of Saturday’s Thunderdome rematch.

No, that honour fell on Lakehead’s Ryan Thomson, who put up one more point than Allin as the Wolves easily handled the Golden Hawks 101-75 to garner the weekend sweep.

Case in point, with time running down in the third, Allin stood in Thomson’s face, daring him to fire the buzzer-beater. Standing a good five or six feet beyond the arc, that’s just what Thomson did. The three-pointer was all but meaningless – Lakehead took a 77-51 lead into the final quarter. But it showed what the Wolves are made of, when all cylinders are clicking like they were this weekend.

For Thomson, it was just another shot.

“The shot clock was running down, I was just trying to get it up,” said Thomson, who helped LU establish an insider presence, with the help of Yoosrie Salhia, that proved to be the difference in this one.

With a playoff berth wrapped up – their latest win clinched a spot in the OUA West postseason, a mere formality really – the Wolves (10-5) still have plenty to play for.

First and foremost, if they can dispose of the Guelph Gryphons on the road next weekend, is a pair of home dates against first-place Windsor, a sweep of that series likely earning the Wolves top spot in the division.

But first things first, Thomson said.

“We came out hard. We knew we needed two wins this weekend and we were playing hard, playing smart, which is a nice change,” said Thomson, hampered by injuries most of the first half.

“Sometimes we play hard, but mental lapses get us. This weekend we kind of put both together and had a pretty good weekend.”
Thomson wasn’t the only Thunderwolves player who found his range.

All five starters hit double figures. Greg Carter was next in line with 16, followed by Salhia (14), Dwayne Harvey (12) and Ben Johnson (10).

“Going forward, that’s something we can always enjoy. It’s good as a team to not have one guy you know is going to have to score. If we can do it by committee, it kind of keeps the other team guessing,” Thomson said.

Lakehead coach Scott Morrison admitted Saturday’s rematch wasn’t nearly as easy as the opener. Lakehead only took a four-point lead into the second quarter, 15 fewer than the night before, and led 46-35 at the half, a gap the Golden Hawks (4-11) narrowed to single digits on two occasions in the third.

But just like that the Wolves extended their lead to 20 points, 69-49, out-scoring Laurier 31-16 in the third.

“Laurier really grinded it out. We knew they were going to come out hard tonight,” Morrison said. “We also knew that Max Allin was going to try to take the game in his hands and win the game at the free-throw line.

“I thought he had a decent game, but at the end of the day we executed well with our high-low, got the ball inside and continued to exploit that advantage we had.”