THUNDER BAY – It’s no fun for a struggling offence to play catch-up.
But that’s the spot the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team found itself in on Friday night, the No. 9 Laurentian Voyageurs doubling up the host team 28-14 in the opening quarter and never letting their opponent close the gap to single digits the rest of the way.
That kind of start isn’t going to win a lot of OUA basketball games, said coach Manny Furtado, whose team held Kadre Gray, the second-leading scorer in the nation, to just two field-goals and 11 points, only to have No. 2 Voyageurs guard David Aromolaran go off for 26 points to lead Laurentian to a convincing 82-61 win.
“We talk about coming out in the first three minutes and trying to get a boost and get the crowd involved and build some energy off of that,” Furtado said.
“But you know what, it was one of those where they punched us in the mouth first and we just took it and it kind of put us on our heels and we were in chase mode the whole time after that.”
Thunderwolves guard Mor Menashe, who finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists, said it wasn’t the kind of start they drew up in practice.
Unfortunately, he added, it’s not the type of team that thrives when playing from behind.
It showed against the Voyaguers, whose lead was twice cut to 11 points in the second half, but found a way to reignite their offence and pull away both times.
“We were close at the end, but it’s not enough against the best teams,” Menashe said. “You can’t have these mental breakdowns. And with teams like that, that have players who can score, you can’t just rest. It has to be a team effort.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can get the win.”
Triumph has eluded the 0-3 Thunderwolves this season, Furtado’s squad struggling to keep opposition offences at bay.
Though he wasn’t happy with his team’s 24-for-72 shooting effort, he did take solace that the Lakehead defence seemed to make some headway against the 3-0 Voyageurs.
In a season that hasn’t gone as planned, he’ll take a small victory at this stage.
“I don’t know how many bunnies we missed. I don’t know how many wide-open threes we missed. To shoot 20 percent at home is really discouraging, thinking it’s supposed to be a home-court advantage and whatnot,” Furtado said.
“We can’t get behind teams by 14 and think we’re going to win. We have to keep it tight, six or eight points and grind it out. But on the good side, we’ve averaged giving up 90 all year and we only gave up 82 tonight.”
Nick Burke, who fouled out early in the third, led the offensive charge for the Thunderwolves, finishing with 13 points. Jack Bull also joined the double-digit club, collecting 11 in just 19 minutes of court time.
Lakehad outscrored Laurentian 17-16 in the second and drew even with 16 points apiece in the third before their luck ran out in a 22-14 fourth.
The Wolves will take on Nipissing on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Fieldhouse.
