Ricky Houle forces his way past Canadore's Ryan Roelcke. Photo credit: Mike Athey

The Algonquin Thunder men’s basketball team defeated the Canadore Panthers with a final score of 92-73 at home Saturday night.

Both teams remained even during the first half of the game, and Canadore went into halftime with a one goal lead of 31-30. That all changed in the third when the Thunder pulled ahead and didn’t look back.

Daoud Soukary led the team in scoring with 25 points. David Tshimanga followed with 17, and Simon Desta followed in close third with 16 points.

Forward Dan Stoddard, who scored six points in the outing, said the first half went terribly, but the second half was “good all around.”

“That whole second half, with the exception of maybe two shots, we can take that all forward,” said Stoddard. “If we played like that against every team, especially the team that we played last night, it would have been a lot closer last night.”

The Thunder were beaten by the visiting Seneca Sting in a lopsided 90-52 Friday evening. With tonight’s game the team has a record of 8-4 for the season.

Coach Trevor Costello was back at the helm of the Thunder this evening after missing the last game.

“Loved the third quarter, it was awesome,” said Costello. “We came out, and you know what, the last time we played them we destroyed them in the third quarter too.”

Costello said the team must now prepare for their next opponent, their hometown rivals, the Coyotes of La Cité.

“Even though they’re 1-9,” Costello said, “they play us hard every year, so we have to be ready for them.”