Gryphon men come up short in comeback attempt

GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons fell behind in the third quarter and just couldn’t recover as they were edged 87-84 by the Lakehead Thunderwolves in OUA men’s basketball play Friday at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.

The Gryphs led 21-18 at the end of the first quarter and 40-39 at halftime before falling behind 71-59 by the end of a third quarter that saw Lakehead go on a 20-7 run to grab a lead it wouldn’t give up.

Dezayne Mingo connected for a game-high 30 points for the Gryphs while Viktoras Nausedas added 15, Emmanuel Ansah had 14 and Shaathon had 13. Ansah grabbed 11 rebounds while Walker had seven while Mingo had Guelph’s lone block. Adrian Morra had three steals.

Lakehead also had four players hit double digits in scoring as Nathan Bilamu had 20, Harold Santacruz 19, Jonathan Goode 15 and Tyler Sagl 11. Santacruz had nine rebounds while Bilamu had five assists and five steals and Jared Kreiner had two blocks.

The Gryphs shot 47 percent on field goals, 36 percent on three-pointers and 65 percent on free throws and had 40 rebounds, 13 assists, 16 turnovers, 19 points off Lakehead turnovers, 20 second-chance points, 42 points in the paint and 12 points from their bench.

The Thunderwolves shot 44 percent on field goals, 35 percent on three-pointers and 56 percent on free throws and had 34 rebounds, 18 assists, 15 turnovers, 21 points off Guelph turnovers, 16 second-chance points, 42 points in the paint and 15 points from their bench.

The Gryphs are fourth in the West Division at 4-9 while the Thunderwolves are sixth in the Central Division at 5-8.

The Gryphs are to host the Brock Badgers, third in the Central Division at 6-6, Saturday at 8 p.m. at the GGAC.

• Guelph Sports Journal