Box Score THUNDER BAY – It was a tale of two games in Thunder Bay for the Guelph Gryphons men's basketball team. On a night when a veteran member of the team reached a significant milestone, the Gryphons were lacking as a unit and lost 87-67 to the Lakehead Thunderwolves at C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse, the hosts' first win of the OUA season.
 
Daniel Dooley scored the 1,000^th point of his distinguished U of G career with a free throw that made the score 52-39 for Lakehead. The fifth-year sociology major from Burlington, ON added his second from the line and moments later, scored on a crafty inbounds play where he bounced the ball off a Thunderwolves' defender and took it to the basket for a layup.

 
"It feels good and its an honour to be a part of the history and legacy of the Gryphs," said Dooley. "But I'm just focused on what I can do better to help us ultimately get a home playoff game."

Dooley finished with a team-high 16 points. But that was the lone positive of the night for the visitors. The Gryphons were an unrecognizable team from the one that exploded for 96 points in an impressive win Friday night, shooting just 30.4 per cent from the floor, while making 3 of 17 from long range.
 
Following Friday's win over Lakehead, head coach Chris O'Rourke talked about the need to do a better defensive job on the dynamic guard tandem of Mor Menashe and Nick Burke. But the two Thunderwolves hurt Guelph again, scoring 23 and 22 points respectively. Menashe hit big three-pointer to stretch Lakehead's lead to 57-40 late in the third quarter just as the Gryphons were beginning to make a few shots. And as Guelph put together a 7-0 run capped by a Taylor Boers three-pointer late in the fourth to get the Thunderdome crowd a little nervy, he added another clutch shot from long range to make it 77-62.

"Physically, we didn't match Lakehead from the tip," said O'Rourke. "They had us playing catchup all night."
 
The Gryphons were down early in this one as the Thunderwolves, desperate to register that first win under new interim head coach Ryan Thomson, came out firing. Lakehead hit 4 of 6 three-pointers in the opening quarter and carried their momentum into the second, finishing the half up 37-27.
 
Guelph's offence, so fluid the night before, couldn't get going. The Gryphons hit just 8 of 32 first-half field goal attempts (25 per cent), with 10 free throw makes and 11 points from Drew Walford keeping them somewhat within range of Lakehead.
 
Guelph return home to host the Laurier Golden Hawks Wednesday, Jan. 10. Game time is 8 pm.