Thunder Men finish Exciting Season

Mar 15

Tom Urbanski

CLOQUET, MN– The second season of Thunder basketball at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College took a big step forward from the inaugural season last year. Despite posting similar won-loss records in both years, the enthusiasm and level of play on both the men’s and women’s teams showed marked improvement.

Leading the way for the Thunder men included a solid group of local

players who came primarily from the Polar League Conference. Two Barnum alums, sophomore guards Curtis Houle and Dylan Eggen, provided leadership and scoring punch for the Thunder. Houle averaged 18.5 points per game, good enough for fourth highest in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference Northern Division. Houle led the team in three-point shooting percentage at 33.3 % and earned Northern Division Conference player of the Week Honors. Eggen led the team in free throw percentage at 90% and caused opponents fits with his clutch three-point shooting ability.

Steve Lyke, a sophomore forward from Floodwood, became a force on the boards, grabbing 240 total rebounds and was second overall in the league with a 10.0 rebounds per game average. Lyke averaged 11.9 points per game in scoring and earned Northern Division Conference Player of the Week Honors. Lyke and Houle are currently being recruited by Division II colleges.

Two Harbors grad Dave Gomes, a sophomore guard, was a dependable sixth man off the bench, shooting 30% from three-point range and helped rally his teammates at important times during games.

Second-year point guard LaDarius Frazier of Kansas City led the team with 124 assists and 74 steals, which also put him second overall in the league rankings with 5.3 assists per game and 3.2 steals per game averages. Frazier also averaged 10 points per game in scoring. Frazier is being recruited by several Division II colleges.

Freshman forward Greg Gillespie of Greenwood, Indiana, was second on the team in scoring with a 13.5 per game average. Gillespie will return next year, along with guard Justin Roberts of Tallahassee, Florida, forward Travis Huesers of Cass Lake, guard Harrison Woods of Mobile, Alabama, and center Kevin Lyke of LeSeuer, MN. Graduating from the team this year are two-year player Jason Morrisroe of Cloquet and forward Joshua Miron of Princeton, MN. Wrenshall alum and guard Chris Hansmann joined the team mid-season and completed his second year of community college eligibility.

“I wasn’t sure if I would play college basketball, but I decided to enroll at Fond du Lac and play on the first Thunder basketball team,” said Dylan Eggen. “I was totally surprised at how good the quality of basketball is at this level, it’s definitely better than what most people think. It’s much faster and more athletic than high school. All of the local players on the team have done well and it has been a lot of fun. I’m really glad I came to Fond du Lac and had a great experience.” Eggen will graduate after spring semester and plans to transfer to the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

The Thunder men finished the season with a 5 win, 18 loss record, good enough for seventh place out of eight teams in the Northern Division of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference. Highlights included two conference wins over rival Itasca Community College and numerous close finishes in exciting, back-and-forth games.

“This was a nice season of growth for us,” said head coach David Wilson. “We were much more competitive this season and had greater depth of players on the team. One of the things we need to improve on is team defense and holding leads. We were great in the first half of games, usually going into the locker room with a decent lead, but we just couldn’t hold on to it at the end of games. Changing leads and close scores make the games exciting for spectators, but they really can give a coach a headache.”

“I’m looking forward to next year and getting the new talent on the floor that I’ve been recruiting to play Thunder basketball,” said Wilson. “Next year will be our third season, so it’s the start of a whole new group, which brings new enthusiasm and new energy to the gym and to our returning players.”