Brock’s trip to the Thunderdome on Jan. 18 turned into the kind of game that tests your patience, your legs and your late-game decision-making. The Badgers (11-2) left with an 84-80 overtime win over Lakehead (8-5), but it wasn’t clean; it was a grind that swung through hot streaks, cold stretches and a fourth quarter collapse that forced Brock to earn it twice.
Brock looked ready to control the night early. They put up 24 points in the first quarter, shooting 50 per cent (7-for-14) and hitting three triples while also living at the line (7-for-8). Andrew McKenna set the tone right away, drilling a three at 9:44 and piling up seven points in the opening frame. Even with Lakehead hanging around Harold Santacruz’s early free throws, Brock carried a 24-21 edge after one.
The second quarter flipped the rhythm. Brock’s offense stalled into a 4-for-14 stretch (28.6 per cent), and Lakehead used that window to take momentum and a halftime lead. Adrian Nowak hit two threes in the quarter, Nishaan Singh got to the rim, and Lakehead won the period 19-13 to go into the breakup 40-37. Brock still had chances, extra possessions, rebounds and trips to the line — but their touch disappeared for ten minutes, and the game tightened.
After halftime, Brock answered with its most decisive basketball of the night. The Badgers dropped 25 in the third, going 10-for-21 and knocking down five threes. McKenna was automatic in that burst, going 3-for-3 in the quarter with two threes. Michael Matas got loose as well, scoring seven in the period while adding to Brock’s work on the glass. It was the stretch where Brock looked like the sharper team, turning a one-possession game into a cushion. By late in the quarter, they’d pushed the advantage to eight, taking a 62-54 lead into the fourth after Ben Herbert hit a three with 11 seconds left.
Then, the game turned again.
Lakehead outscored Brock 20-12 in the fourth, and it wasn’t subtle. Brock went 5-for-16 in the quarter, missed all its three-point attempts and left at the line (2-for-5). Lakehead, meanwhile, leaned on pressure, rebounding and steady shot-making. Chris Sag and Santacruz kept attacking, and with Brock’s lead shrinking, the Thunderdome got loud. Lakehead took a one-point lead at 68-67 with 4:21 left, and Brock spent the final minutes trading stops and misses until McKenna tied it at 74 on a jumper with 1:13 remaining. Neither side could land the last punch in regulation.
Overtime became about survival and free throws.
Brock didn’t shoot well in the extra five minutes (3-for-11), but they got enough of the right plays at the right time. Anthony Heyes, despite a rough night from three (1-for-9) and 4-for-17 overall, delivered the biggest overtime stretch: seven points, including late free throws that kept the margin just out of reach. With 13 seconds left and Brock up one, Heyes hit a free throw to make it 82-80, and after a technical foul sequence with one second left, headed two more at the line to seal it.
McKenna finished with 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting and a 3-for-5 from deep, adding four rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes. Heyes had 15 points and five rebounds, Matas scored 13 with eight boards and Isaiah Bujdoso added 11 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Brock won because they built a third-quarter edge big enough to survive the fourth, and because in overtime, when the shots stopped falling, they still found points at the line. It wasn’t pretty — but it still counted.