Top-ranked Rams bury Thunderwolves with long-distance accuracy

THUNDER BAY – The Ryerson Rams had a chip on their shoulders on Friday night and the Lakehead Thunderwolves paid the price.

The Rams, facing the possibility of losing their No. 1 ranking in the nation after losing earlier this week to a Guelph Gryphons team chasing Lakehead for the final playoff spot in the OUA Central, pounded the Thunderwolves from beyond the arc, hitting 11-of-13 three-pointers in the first half and cruised to a 78-65 in at the Thunderdome.

Lakehead trailed 71-43 after three quarters, winning a meaningless battle of the bench in the final period to close the gap to 13.

“They came out on fire,” said Lakehead coach Manny Furtado, his team slipping to 9-7, half a game ahead of the Gryphons, who knocked off Toronto a night before the Varsity Blues arrive in Thunder Bay.

“I’ve never seen a team hit 77 per cent from three for the first half. That just kind of put us on our heels right away. It didn’t help us that our transition defence was bad. They had some wide-open looks and we got into some rotation situations where they just picked us apart.”

Part of the Thunderwolves problem was a failure to find points from anyone other than Bacarius Dinkins in the opening quarter.
The Florida native scored Lakehead’s first 10 points, a Quincy Johnson three-pointer the lone basket not coming out of Dinkins’ hands as the Rams opened up a quick 27-13 lead.

Furtado said he was a little disappointed in the way his guards reacted with the ball.

“We practiced all week what they were going to do, icing it and whatnot, and what the game plan was. We just didn’t execute it. And it even took us a little while to get (Dinkins) the ball inside. Obviously it’s a little frustrating to start the game like that, knowing what’s at stake.”

Dinkins finished with 18, continuing his strong second-half play.

Only teammate Kache Kopec, who played the bulk of his fourth-quarter minutes against the Ryerson reserves, out-scored Dinkins, netting a game-high 20 points.

The rookie is averaging just 3.9 points a night, but has back-to-back double-digit outings, netting 16 last Saturday against Laurier.
Kopec, who hails from Kelowna, B.C., said the game plan was to keep the Rams under control in transition.

It’s easier said than done against a team that improved to 15-2, one jostling for playoff position at the top of the OUA standings.

“We know that’s their best thing. They’re athletic and they like to run and score. We didn’t do it. I think we underestimated their athleticism and how well they shoot the ball,” Kopec said.

“And it showed.”

The loss aside, Furtado was pleased with the minutes offered up by Kopec, who was 4-for-8 in three-point territory, a team that got just six points from its starters not named Dinkins – three of whom were kept off the score sheet altogether.”

Other than those two, only Henry Tan and Mike Theodore managed to hit more than one basket.

The Rams were led by fight-year senior forward Kadeem Green, who had 19 points in just 22 minutes of court time. Aaron Best added 15 and Ammanuel Diressa chipped in 14.