GUELPH, ON - Saturday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons men's basketball team picked up a 74-62 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves. With the win, the Gryphons keep their
playoff hopes alive with just one game remaining in the regular season schedule.
A near capacity crowd of 1,570 were on hand, most of whom were U of G first year residence students, to cheer on the Gryphs as part of the "Jam the Gym" promotion. The large home crowd were given plenty to cheer about early on with the Gryphons clicking offensively, shooting 50% from the field and pouring in 27 points in the opening quarter. While the offence got things started early on, it would be the Gryphons defensive performance that would ultimately lead to the win. The Gryphs held Lakehead to just 24 points total in the second half. The Thunderwolves were limited to just 9-of-35 shooting from the field and 0-7 from beyond the arc over the final two quarters. After taking a four-point lead into the locker room at the break, the Gryphons would outscore Lakehead 22-13 in the 3rd quarter to take a 13-point lead to the 4th.
Fourth year guard Drew Walford scored a season-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting to lead all U of G scorers. Fourth year point guard Daniel Dooley racked up 14 points while rookie point guard Jordan Sobot chipped in with 10 points in just 11 minutes of floor time off the bench.
With the win, the Gryphons improve to 5-13 on the season. Up next, another home game next Saturday (February 18) against the 6-12 Waterloo Warriors. The Warriors will first play Friday night (Feb. 17) in Thunder Bay against Lakehead, before traveling to Guelph to face the Gryphons on the Saturday (Feb. 18).
- Sets up an absolute must win vs Waterloo next week with both teams currently on the outside looking in
