TORONTO - The TMU Bold men's basketball team began their season with a nail-biting 86-76 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday night. David Walker led the Bold with 20 points following an incredible fourth quarter that helped seal the win.

The Bold and Thunderwolves played a tightly contested opening five minutes to the contest. The early Bold offence was predicated on third-year guard Aaron Rhooms' ability to create off the drive inside. He drew early double-teams allowing Cameron Ramage opportunity to capitalize, as he finished with five first quarter points. However, Lakehead shot effectively from beyond the arc, with TMU shots failing to get favourable bounces off the rim early on. An Aidan Wilson dunk brought the Bold crowd to its feet which seemed to shift first quarter momentum as the Bold went on a 7-3 run to close the quarter following the slam. The Bold trailed 26-22 after the first.

"Have you guys watched Ted Lasso? What did he say about a goldfish? You need to have the smallest memory right now," said head coach David DeAveiro on the Bold's shooting struggles during the first.

The mini-run for the Bold continued as the second quarter opened. The Bold brought themselves within one just two minutes into the quarter. Effective offensive rebounding gave them second life on many possessions, as the Bold grabbed nine offensive boards in the first half. Rhooms operated in the post and continued to draw double teams. However, the Bold continued to have shots fail to drop as they looked to draw even. Eventually Simon Chamberlain would bring the Bold level on a slick finish in tight, with roughly four minutes to go in the quarter. From there the Bold ran the court well, finishing several fast break opportunities and preventing Lakehead from effectively establishing a half court defence. When TMU did slow things down, high screens created spacing for guards like Marsei Caston to distribute well. As a result of the second quarter turn around the Bold entered the halftime break with a 45-42 advantage.

"They put you in a ball screen a lot, so we had to change our coverage at half time," said DeAveiro.

Lincoln Rosebush was a dominant force to begin the third and helped TMU maintain its lead coming out of the break. Unforced errors prevented the Bold from growing their lead, with turnovers and fouls slowing TMU momentum. Aidan Wilson played a big role for the Bold in the third with several offensive boards and defensive stands helping the Bold maintain its advantage. However, the Bold ran into foul trouble early in the third, putting the Thunderwolves into the bonus just six minutes into the half. While the bonus limited TMU's ability to be aggressive on defence, the Bold offence finished the half strong with Caston scoring the Bold's final six points of the quarter.

Carrying a 64-59 lead into the final quarter, the Bold lead quickly evaporated after failing to rebound effectively on multiple defensive possessions. In crunch time as the game wound down David Walker, who had up to that point a quiet night, took over on consecutive possessions, generating multiple "and-1" opportunities which he regularly converted. Walker finished with 23 points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter. His efforts helped the Bold build a 15-point lead with two minutes to go, helping ice the game for the home side.

"Just relax, be humble, my time's gonna come when I get called," said Walker about his fourth quarter performance. "I just kept attacking the ball screen all-day."

The Bold battle Lakehead in a rematch on Saturday night, with tip-off from the MAC at 8:00 p.m.