The York University Lions men's basketball team conquered the Algoma Thunderbirds 110-75 in a home game on Saturday (Nov. 29) at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
 
The Lions played an impressive game, scoring a total of 18 three-pointers en route to their highest offensive output of the season. There were also some electric plays with a pair of big dunks in the second half.
 
The first dunk came when Nick Tufegdzich (Tecumseh, Ont.) intercepted the ball from the Thunderbirds, then ran alone to dunk the ball into the net in the third quarter.
 
The second dunk came in the fourth quarter from Nana Adu-Poku (North York, Ont.) in the last minutes of play, which sent the crowd roaring.
 
O'Neil Halstead (Toronto) was on fire as he scored six exceptional threes in the contest.
 
In the first quarter, Tufegdzich led the attack with a trio of threes, two jumpers and a smacking block. He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds in just 26 minutes of action.
 
AJ Andre Barder from the Thunderbirds played a great game, scoring many three-pointers and blocking the York attack. The first ended with a score of 24-16, with the Lions in the lead.
 
In the second, Halstead lit up the court as he scored four of his three-pointers, helping the Lions open the gap to 54-34.
 
In the third, Tufegdzich, Nidun Chandrakumar (North York, Ont.), Nathan Culbreath (Kingston, Ont.) and Richard Iheadindu (Brampton, Ont.) all contributed to the Lions' attack as the team put up another 30 points to raise the score to 84-48.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Lions continued to impress as they played with unity, strength and determination to end the game 110-75.
 
In addition to Tufegdzich, Halstead also contributed 21 points, a new career high, while Iheadindu had 15 points, four rebounds and six assists. Culbreath also reached double digits, scoring 14 points and adding seven rebounds.
 
For the Thunderbirds, Sean Clendinning with 17 points and Barder had 14.
 
The Lions improved to 3-4 heading into the December break, while the Thunderbirds continue to look for their first win of the year.
 
The next game for the Lions is a home game in the new year on Friday, Jan. 9 at 8pm against the Laurentian Voyageurs at the Tait McKenzie Centre.