Sunday, March 13, 2011

Lakehead Beats Dalhousie 84-80 to Claim 5th Place in Nation

The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Dalhousie Tigers today for the CIS Final 8 consolation championship and finished a great season on a winning note.

Down for much of the game the Thunderwolves staged a rally with under 3 min remaining (down 8) to bring the score to 80-79 in favor of Dalhousie with 12 second remaining. With Dalhousie in control and inbounding the ball, Joseph Jones (3rd year Washington, DC) stole the inbounds pass and hit ahead to a streaking Greg Carter who drew an intentional foul and calmly drained both free throws to give Lakehead a 1 point lead with 7 seconds to go. Lakehead then would hit 3 more free throws to finish with an 84-80 victory.

In his final CIS game, Jamie Searle (Belleville, Ontario) again was instrumental in a Thunderwolves come back going for 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and only 1 turnover in 31 minutes of action. Searle drained two three pointers late in the 4th quarter to help bring the 'Wolves within striking distance for the last defensive stand of the season.

Yoosrie Salhia had his best Final 8 game to date scoring 12 points and 8 rebounds while adding 5 blocked shots and 4 assists. Venzal Russell had 15 points and 3 steals while Ryan Thomson had the outside stroke working to the tune of 13 points in only 12 minutes. Ben Johnson completed a well-played play-off month with 10 points on 3-5 3pt shooting before fouling out late in the 4th quarter. Andrew Hackner had 5 points and 2 rebounds over 19 minutes in his final CIS game. For Dalhousie, All-Canadian Simon Farine had a stellar game with 31 points and 6 assists to finish his excellent career. Fellow senior Joe Schow also had 13 and 11 boards to get a double-double in his last run.
For the game Dalhousie out-rebounded Lakehead 45-35 (15-13 O boards) however Lakehead made up for the rebounding edge by forcing 21 Dalhousie turnovers. Lakehead shot 10-28 from three point land. Lakehead was 31-75 from three point range for the tournament.

With the win, Lakehead finishes 2-1 at the Final 8 and sees a fantastic season finish with a 27-12 win-loss record (5-1 post season), the school's first ever OUA Wilson Cup championship and a top 5 national standing. Congrats to the team on a great effort and to Jamie Searle and Andrew Hackner

"I was proud of the team for providing a solid effort today and for not quitting when it looked like Dal was ready to pull away at various times throughout the game. Jamie Searle and Andrew Hackner were both key instruments in the win - which was a fitting way for them to end their careers. Credit to Dalhousie for playing tough as well and providing one of the better consolation finals to take place in recent years. "

"We are quite proud of the success we have enjoyed this season and all we have accomplished - however we will be looking forward to taking a break and then getting back at it to work toward playing in the 5:00pm game this time next year. Thanks to all of our fans in Halifax this weekend as well to all those following at home - we appreciate and need your continued support!"

- Coach Morrison

#2 Carleton plays #6 TWU in the CIS final today at 5:00PM Atlantic time.

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