Wolves take on familiar Gryphons in OUA playoffs first round

THUNDER BAY -- If there’s one team the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball team is familiar with, it’s the Guelph Gryphons.

The two teams split a pair of games last weekend in Guelph to close the OUA regular season and will meet on Wednesday night in the opening round of the playoffs, a date with No. 1 Carleton the prize for whoever emerges.

First-year guard Ashaunti Hogan, whose success from beyond the arc propelled LU to a convincing 89-74 win on Saturday after coming up short the night before,

Hogan who finished with 18 points in the win, said a key to winning is keeping that hot hand going.

“We haven’t been too consistent yet with our shooting, but it’s definitely improved over first semester,” Hogan said.

“Our percentage has jumped up overall at least 10 per cent as a team, so there’s a big difference there. And I think each game, as we see one or two of them fall, it gets a little easier each time as you see one fall.”

Finishing the regular season against Guelph can only help, Hogan added.

“We know how they play. But at the same time, they know how we play as well,” he said. “It’s going to be a battle of who wants it more, whose going to be more aggressive and take the win, pretty much.”

First-year forward Bacarius Dinkins couldn’t agree more.

“We’ve already got a feel for who we’re playing,” he said. “We played Guelph twice this past weekend. So we kind of understand what we’ve got to do and who we’re going to face up against.”

Playoffs are a whole different ballgame, said coach Manny Furtado, who drew a large 0-0 on the white board following the weekend split.
It’s a blank slate Furtado said.

“That’s where everybody is right now. We’ve stressed all season the importance of competing every possession and making sure they do their job,” Furtado said.

“We’ve put ourselves in the best position possible in hosting a home game and playing in front of the home crowd. Wednesday’s going to be the same things we stresses all year – defence, rebounding the ball, taking care of the ball and pushing the tempo.”

Finishing is also important. After leading most of the way on Friday, the Wolves were outscored 21-12 in the final quarter to lose by three, 69-66.

Containing the bench is also key. The Gryphons starters combined for just 20 points, but their bench , led by Jonathan Wallace, connected for 49.

Tip off at the Thunderdome is 8 p.m. The Wolves women take on Western at 6 p.m.