The York University Lions men's basketball team let a nine-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter in a 76-73 defeat to the Algoma Thunderbirds at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Friday night.
 
The Thunderbirds late-game rally cut down a big lead by the Lions as they outscored the home team 30-18 in the final frame to come back and steal the victory.
 
In terms of the first quarter, the Lions flat out dominated. Ammar Hassan (London, Ont.) opened up the game by scoring York's first five points. The Lions played aggressive at the boards to create more second chance scoring opportunities for themselves and this helped the Lions shut out the quarter leading 18-14.
 
With their usual swagger, the Lions continued to enforce their will early in the second. Jayden Frederick (Scarborough, Ont.) scored four of his 13 points in the quarter. He also recorded a dominant seven rebounds with one block and one assist. The Thunderbirds hit three shots from beyond the arc to help bridge the gap. This would lead to a smaller 31-30 lead for the Lions entering the half.
 
Algoma's first shot of the second half gave them the lead for only the second time in the game. The Lions would end up regaining this lead and maintaining it throughout most of the third quarter. Matthew Carating (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded seven of his nine points in the frame and also recorded four assists, two rebounds and one steal in the game.
 
After a brief loss of composure, the Lions swung back and built their lead back to nine as they led 55-46 entering the fourth quarter.
 
A screaming crowd christened the beginning of the fourth quarter and let the Thunderbirds know that they were in fact the visiting team. Nidun Chandrakumar (Scarborough, Ont.) played in his usual enforcing style as he made anybody he guarded flustered beyond belief. Chandrakumar recorded four of his 12 points in the quarter and had six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the game.
 
Halfway through the fourth quarter the Thunderbirds seemed to become allergic to missing shots. A slew of three pointers and free throws allowed them to win by the skin of their teeth as the Lions were unable to hit a buzzer-beating three.
 
Brandon Ramirez (Scarborough, Ont.) led the Lions in scoring with 16 points on the night and also had four rebounds.
 
With the loss the Lions move to 2-3 on the season. Their final game of 2016 will take place on Saturday (Dec. 3) when they travel to Guelph, Ont., to play the Gryphons.