Call them the first-place Lakehead Thunderwolves.
The Wolves 81-77 victory on Saturday over the host McMaster Marauders, combined with Windsor’s 62-60 loss to Brock, means it’s a dead heat atop the OUA West Division standings.
Windsor and Lakehead, who meet next weekend in Thunder Bay in a pivotal two-game set that could decide the division champion, are tied with identical 11-3 records.
On Saturday it was guard Venzal Russell who led the pack, scoring 24 points to help LU secure its fifth win in six post-Christmas outings.
Russell, a first year guard from Detroit, completed the double-double by grabbing 10 boards. Joseph Jones had 16 for the Wolves. McMaster (7-7) was led by 22 from Cam Michaud, and got 19 from Kenan Etale.