It seems only fitting that in the season in which the UNBC Timberwolves basketball teams made the playoffs together for the first time in their six-year U Sports Canada West history, they both will be there in the same gym at the same time to cheer each other on.
The T-wolves, male and female, are in Winnipeg today for single-elimination first-round playoff games against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. The women play at 4 p.m. PT and the men's game follows at 6 p.m. PT.
"That's really crazy that (both UNBC teams are) here, you could play the season over 100 times and probably not have that happen," said UNBC men's head coach Todd Jordan.
The UNBC men and the Wesmen men's team each finished with 10-10 records but Winnipeg was bumped up to the eighth seed and UNBC was ranked 10th based on its ratings performance index. The RPI takes into account the strength of each team's opponents throughout the season and playoff seedings are ultimately based upon that rating.
Both teams had strong second halves in the men's schedule. The T-wolves went 6-2 in January and finished out the season
Jan. 27 with their first 100-point game, a 101-91 triumph over Fraser Valley. The Wesmen were nearly perfect over that five-week season-ending stretch, finishing 7-1 after a slow start, with just three wins in the first nine games.
"They have strong wing play and they're fairly balanced throughout their top five or six guys and they're good in transition," said Jordan. "They're not small, they're fairly similar size-wise to us.
"There's so much parity and I would say it's a fairly tight match. Obviously with them being at home, that's a bit of an edge. For us, it's about continuing to build on things we've been doing the last few weeks here. If we share the ball and play tough we'll give ourselves a chance."
UNBC was a playoff team for the first time in 2016 but missed out on the postseason last year when the T-wolves won just four of 20 games.
"I think if we score 101 (points) we'll be in OK shape," Jordan said. "Particularly on the offensive end of the floor we definitely have generated some momentum the last few weeks and the ball has been going in for us. We (finished) as one of the top-third offensive teams in Canada West and we just have to try to build on that - that's obviously a strength of ours."
UNBC guard Nolan Hanson is sick with the flu and did not travel to Winnipeg but the T-wolves are otherwise healthy.
For Jordan, this is his first chance to try to beat former UNBC head coach Mike Raimbault in a playoff battle. Jordan was an assistant with the T-wolves under Raimbault for one season in the B.C. college league before Jordan moved on the Quest University. He took over for Raimbault as head coach of the T-wolves in 2010 when the Wesmen hired Raimbault, after two seasons at UNBC.
"He's a good friend of mine and obviously we share a connection so that's kind of cool," said Jordan.
The winner moves on to face one of the top-four seeds in a best-of-three playoff series next weekend. UNBC and Winnipeg did not play each other in either the men's or women's schedules this season
The UNBC women went 5-3 after the Christmas break and locked up their second-straight playoff berth, posting a 9-11 record. They'll play in the postseason for only the second time since they joined Canada West in 2012-13. Winnipeg went on a 6-2 run after Christmas and finished with a 14-6 record. The Wesmen were ranked sixth in the RPI while UNBC was 12th.
UNBC head coach Sergey Shchepotkin could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
