Box Score The Varsity Blues men’s basketball team fell 68-63 to the No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday night (Nov. 18) in Thunder Bay, Ont.

With the loss, the Blues drop to 1-2 on the season, while the OUA defending champion Thunderwolves improve to 3-0 and sit atop the West division standings.

Burnaby, B.C., native Andrew Wasik led all players with 17 points.  The fifth-year forward was 8-of-11 from the floor and added six rebounds on the night.  Arun Kumar tallied 13 points, while both Alex Hill and Justin Holmes had 11 points in the loss.

The Blues got off to a slow start and found themselves down 25-10 after the first 10 minutes of action.  Toronto attempted to rally and outscored the Thunderwolves 16-12 in the second to bring the game within 11 (37-26) at halftime.

U of T opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run and Kumar went on to hit back-to-back threes to bring the game within one late in the frame. Hill shocked the home crowd with a dunk at the end of the third quarter as the Blues held onto their first lead of the game (53-50) heading into the fourth quarter.

The game went back-and-forth as Lakehead regained a three-point cushion with under a minute to go.  With 12.2 seconds remaining, the Blues drove down the court but an outstretched pass would sail out of bounds and surrender a chance to complete the comeback.

Ryan Thomson led the home team with 16 points with Venzal Russell recording a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards in the win.

The Varsity Blues return to action tomorrow night as they head to Guelph, Ont., to take on the Gryphons. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

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