Gees dominate Thunderwolves 97-81
Nov. 17 — The number one ranked Gee-Gees men’s basketball team faced off against the 2-3 Lakehead Thunderwolves at Montpetit Hall for their first home game this season. The building was sold out and the crowd was intense for this matchup.
4th Hoops called the Gee-Gees “The team to beat in U Sports” and they certainly showed that in their home opener with a great offensive game, even if their defense was either strong or struggling depending on the quarter.
The first quarter started with the Gee-Gees winning the tip-off. Lakehead started off strong with great three-point shooting, especially from the right corner. The team tried to combat it with a strong paint presence in the opposing end, lots of layups and extra points from fouls.
Lakehead was able to pick pockets towards the end of the quarter, but guard Cole Newton hitting a three-pointer from the wing and guard Dragan Stajic getting a steal to convert into a two-point shot kept the team in it against Lakehead despite being down by nine points. It was tough but a momentum shift was coming.
The second quarter is where things get really exciting. The Gee-Gees were not satisfied with being down in the game and showed it on the stat sheet. They were still dominating the paint but they were rebounding a lot more defensively. The team was not defending the paint the same way, however, but the offensive effort more than made up for it. Forward Brock Newton and forward-guard Justin Ndjock-Tadjore were laying down monster slam dunks against the opposing team during this run.
Newton made the U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian team last season and is averaging 20 points, six rebounds, and three assists. However, it was Ndjock-Tadjore who was the star of the show in this game as he put up 24 points as a sophomore.
“I just wanted to come with a lot of energy on the defensive end,” Ndjock-Tadjore said about his performance. “And just trying to rebound and the offense just came naturally. My teammates trust me and I made the best out of it.” Lots of steals, threes and extra points from fouls to set an example. The momentum shift led to the team outshooting Lakehead 30-9 for a momentous comeback.
The third quarter began with a lot more aggressive play from the team. Guard Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta started the effort by recovering his own rebound to make the two-pointer. The offensive effort stayed the same but the defense would run into foul trouble and give up some free throws. Lakehead adapted their game to our defensive play; while still shooting threes, their paint presence was increased in the quarter. Our defense was able to handle the pick and roll but struggled against the close shot. However, the team was able to end the third with two three-pointers from guard Khalifa Koulamallah and Stajic.
The fourth quarter started with a Lakehead player embarrassing himself by throwing the ball at a Gee-Gees player and the refs stopped a scrap from happening. While Lakehead was still a threat hitting corner threes, the team’s offensive effort got reignited with Stajic stealing the ball and setting up guard Kevin Otoo for a big dunk.
“We cranked up the defense,” Coach James Derouin said about both comeback efforts. “We started following the scout. We started forcing them into the shots that we wanted them to take. We just actually took them out of their rhythm offensively, and then we turned our defense into offense and that’s when we’re at our best. That was really how we turned it around.” There was better defense on display and the Gee-Gees were up by double digits to end the game 97-81.
