The road to the CIS nationals just got a whole heck of a lot tougher for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
The Wolves on Friday were shocked 86-70 by the upstart Ryerson Rams in the OUA semifinal in Waterloo, and will have to rely on the lone at-large berth to make the trip next weekend to Halifax.
A selection committee will use nine separate criteria to make their choice, and the defending OUA champion Lakehead Thunderwolves look like a favourable choice under that scenario.
The first deciding factor is regular season record. LU finished 20-2 in OUA play, losing to No. 1 Carleton and to Laurier, no longer in contention.
Games against other teams under consideration are next. The Wolves swept McMaster, playing in the other OUA semifinal against Carleton, and did not play teams in either Canada West or Atlantic University Sport.
Third on the list is game results against non-conference CIS opponents. Lakehead went 3-0 at Christmas in Quebec, the only non-conference action they saw.
Their best five weeks in the top 10 rankings are also factored in. Lakehead entered weekend play at No. 2, a position they held for the past seven weeks.
Playoff performance is the ninth criteria. The Wolves went 1-1, beating Guelph last weekend before Friday's lopsided loss to Ryerson.
The Rams will take on Carleton or McMaster Saturday night for the OUA championship.
OUA West MVP Venzal Russell had 23 points and a dozen rebounds to lead Lakehead. Aaron Best had 26 to pace the Rams.
"Before this weekend we said the successful team would be the one who executed and played the most as a team over 40 minutes. Ryerson did just that as they beat us down the floor and moved the ball much better than we did," LU coach Scott Morrison said in a release.
"Credit to Ryerson players for knocking down big shots and to their coaches for preparing well this week. They deserved the win and we have to take our beating like men. We picked a bad time to play poorly and now we have to live with it and find ways to learn from this experience."
The Wolves trailed 13-0 to start the OUA semifinal, missing their first 10 shots. The recovered towithin 11 at the half, down 45-34, but the Rams went on a 14-2 run to start the third quarter and LU never recovered.
