'Wolves denied by Bisons in Wesmen Classic championship game

After shooting their way to the Wesmen Classic championship game, the men’s basketball team came up against an athletic Manitoba Bisons defense, surrendering in a 73-54 loss.

'Wolves denied by Bisons in Wesmen Classic championship game
December 31, 2015

After shooting their way to the Wesmen Classic championship game, the men's basketball team came up against an athletic Manitoba Bisons defense, surrendering in a 73-54 loss.

Lakehead's offense was unable to create the open looks it had the two previous games, with Kache Kopec and Brandon Persad being silenced in the first half, a combined 0-of-5 from the field. After scoring over 60 points in the first two games, Kopec and Persad had just 2 on Wednesday night.

Manitoba Bison Brett Jewell went on a rampage with a 14-point first half, 7-of-8 from the field in 11 minutes of play.

Lakehead trailed 37-24 at the break.

Missed shots and poor offensive possessions led to easy baskets for the Bisons as the second half wore on, with Lakehead showing desperation on offense and disarray on defense.

The Bisons scored 23 points off turnovers, compared to just 4 for Lakehead.

It was clear that Lakehead missed the contributions of Henry Tan, who missed his second consecutive game with a sore ankle after tweaking it late in the first game of the tournament.

Keith Omoerah was Manitoba's leader, scoring 18 points with 5 rebounds in the game, on top of being named tournament MVP.

Bacarius Dinkins (photo left) finished with a team-high 16 points and 8 rebounds, and was named to the tournament All-Star team, along with his teammate Brandon Persad.

The men's team will resume regular season play on Jan 23 in Sault Ste Marie against the Algoma Thunderbirds.