Defensively, the Lakehead Thunderwolves hung tough with the No. 1 Carleton Ravens in the OUA Wilson Cup semifinal.
Offensively, their game’s still sitting on the tarmac at the Thunder Bay.
In any case, the No. 7 Wolves were no match for the Ravens Friday night and will have to rebound in Saturday’s bronze-medal match for a shot at fourth-straight berth at nationals.
All-Canadians Tyson Hinz and Phillip Scrubb dominated the Thunderwolves at times, combining for 29 points to lead Carleton to the 72-51 triumph at Toronto's Mattamy Centre, formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens.
"I was happy with our defensive effort for most of the game. That said, I thought some of our guys played scared and it showed in the form of horrendous shooting and poor turnovers in the first half," LU coach Scott Morrison said after the game. "There is nothing to be gained from hanging our heads. We have to get locked in on tomorrow's opponent and claim a CIS Final 8 berth."
The Ravens will take on Ottawa in the Wilson Cup final, while Lakehead will play Windsor in the third-place game. Ottawa crushed the Lancers, who the Wolves split with in the regular season, 78-58.
Joey Nitychoruk and graduating senior Joseph Jones paced the LU attack, the sophomore Nitychoruck winding up with 12, Jones with 15.
But it was the inability to find the bottom of the net, combined with some timely second-half shooting by the Ravens, that put this one in the sports history books as a Carleton win.
Case in point, Dwayne Harvey hit a basket with 47 second left in the first, then hit the accompanying free throw and Lakehead finished the quarter trailing 17-8.
They didn't hit another field goal until there were 27 seconds left in the second quarter, when Jones drained a long three-pointer to cut a 17-point deficit to 14.
The Wolves didn't record a point in the second for the first 5:01 of the period, when Yoosrie Salhia hit one of two free throws. Twice in the second LU went 0-2 at the free-throw line, Greg Carter missing a pair midway through the quarter, Harvey duplicating the dubious feat minutes later.
Still, despite hitting four of 28 shots at the half, a dismal 14.2 field-goal percentage, the Wolves weren't out of it when the 20-minute buzzer sounded.
Coming out of the break, Thunder Bay's Matt Schmidt, who struggled from long distance in the first half, banged a trey that pulled the Thunderwolves to within 11, 30-19.
But Hinz and Thomas Scrubb hit back-to-back three-pointers, the start of a 13-0 run that quickly put the playoff contest out of reach.
By the time Jones hit the first of two free throws -- he missed the follow-up -- the Wolves were down 43-20 and in deep trouble. They just couldn't match the potent, CIS-best offence the Ravens deliver night in and night out, despite holding them 20 points under their season average.
Jones drove for a bucket and Carleton's Thomas Scrubb, a second-team OUA East all-star, drained a three.
All-rookie Joe Hart provided a measure of hope for the Thunderwolves late in the game, hitting a couple of three-pointers as the Ravens coasted down the stretch.
A measure of LU's lack of success? Their starters, who lived and died by the three all season long, combined to hit just two of 17 shots from beyond the arc. The bench was 4-11, giving Morrison something to think about in advance of his second-chance opportunity to advance.
Overall the Thunderwolves were just 14-57 from the field and made just 17 of 29 free throws.
The Ravens, on the other hand, seeking an eighth OUA crown in 11 years, made 40 per cent of their 65 shots, including nine from long distance.
Lakehead's OUA West all-star pivot Salhia, was held to just one point and spent most of the second half on the bench, presumably resting once the game was out of reach. LU was also without forward Ryan Thomson, out this weekend with an injured knee.
Beyond the arc: With Thomson in the lineup over the past two seasons, Lakehead is 57-6. Without him, they're 1-10.
