Lions Lose OT Heartbreaker

            Taking on the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves on Saturday afternoon, the Lions were without leading scorer Isaac Gray who sustained an ankle injury late in their game against NAIT Friday night.

            Ty Schenk started in place of Gray for the Lions but picked up a quick two fouls to open the first quarter. The Lions struggled to keep turnovers down, allowing the Wolves transition heavy offense to get out on the fast break for high percentage opportunities. The Wolves also nabbed 6 offensive rebounds in the first to grab a 28-19 lead at the end of the first.

            Momentum swung the other way in the second quarter. Ty Schenk and Alonzo Tan for the Lions caught fire to score 17 of their teams 31 in the quarter. The Lions also picked it up on defense, limiting the Wolves to just 4-14 from the field in the second. The Wolves, however, kept it close by getting to the charity stripe and converting. They had a 13-5 free throw edge in the second, and 47-11 differential for the game, converting on 35 of them.

            Entering the third down 47-50, Wolves' #20 Immanuel Iioka knocked down a three to tie, but the Lions came back with four unanswered three-pointers to go ahead 62-50 forcing a timeout from the Wolves' side. Iioka later came back with 6 unanswered points of his own to help shrink the Lions lead, part of his game-high 34. Free throws continued to kill Ambrose in the third, but their 7-11 three-point shooting in the quarter kept them in it, going into the fourth with a 73-71 lead.

            Wolves' player of the game Mohab Milad came up big in the fourth by scoring 11 points in the frame. His jumper at 5:28 gave them their first lead since the second quarter. The teams traded baskets from there, with Northwestern going ahead 88-84. Baskets from Schenk and Tan gave the Lions back the lead with 1:19 to play. Mohab Milad missed for the Wolves with 23 seconds left, giving the Lions possession. Schenk only managed to split a pair of free-throws with 9.6 to play with the score 94-92. Coming out of the timeout, Milad redeemed himself, knocking down a floater in the key to send the game into overtime.

            Once in overtime, foul trouble came back to haunt the Lions with starters Jace Straub and Hudson Wiebe fouling out early in extra time. The Wolves got hot as the Lions cooled down, going 5-6 from the field. With the Lions on their back foot, Iioka closed the game out with an and-one, taking the victory for the Wolves 110-102.

            Schenk turned it around after his early fouls to earn player of the game honors for the Lions, scoring 21 points and knocking down four from deep. The Lions will look to get back to their winning ways at Concordia University of Edmonton on November 18, and Northwestern Polytechnic will take on Briercrest College looking to continue their season turnaround.