If Kevan Madsen could concentrate on school like he did on the hard court, he'd be a Rhodes scholar.
The 20-year-old post for the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves men's basketball team had no trouble finding a focus Saturday, putting up a game-high 21 points and adding nine rebounds to lead the T-wolves to a 83-73 win over the Langara College Falcons at the Northern Sport Centre.
"It was fun to play because we just got out and ran the whole time [with] lots of rebounding and lots of good offensive stuff that we did," said Madsen after the T-wolves improved their PACWEST record to 6-2. "It's stuff we've been working on in practice all week so it was good to finally make it all come together."
UNBC didn't relinquish their lead over the Canadian Colleges' Athletic Association's 14th ranked Falcons, but had to stay calm in the second half when the visitors had a couple of runs, including a 10-point run in the third quarter to pull within eight points after trailing by 18.
Todd Jordan, T-wolves' coach, said the defensive play of Sam Raphael and Joel Rybachuk in holding the Falcons' offensive threat, Gurjote Jhaj, to 15 points, connecting on just five of 19 field goals, was key to the victory.
"I thought the thing that really won the game for us, especially early, was we really set the tone with our defence," said Jordan. "Sam guarded him most of the game and Joel had him in spurts - those two guys did an unbelievable job on him. He's one of their key guys and we were able to really do the job of keeping him under control."
In six games with the Falcons this season Jhaj has 134 points.
Raphael had 16 points in under 25 minutes of play, leaving the game in the third quarter favouring his right hamstring, appearing fine as he cheered on his teammates in the dying minutes, while Rybachuk had 13 points and five assists. Jose Araujo had 12 points.
The win moves the T-wolves into a second-place tie with the Camosun College Chargers, but UNBC holds the tiebreaker due to their 97-64 win before the holiday break. Vancouver Island University Mariners (7-1) hold down the top spot. The Falcons (4-4) are sixth, two points in arrears of the Capilano University Blues and Douglas College Royals, both at 5-3.
Jordan said it was nice to see Madsen contribute offensively for the T-wolves.
"We're very lucky to have a six-foot-10 athlete that can rebound and block shots and change things," said Jordan. "The great thing was tonight he did a great job of sealing his side and getting us some easy buckets. When he contributes like that we're a different team.
"I think he's just starting to get his legs under him now, hopefully, he continues to progress as the year goes on."
Madsen played for the 2009-2010 T-wolves team but took last season off because he couldn't get into the educational aspect of university. When Jordan signed on to coach UNBC this season, one of top priorities was to convince the graduate of Kelly Road Secondary to give university another try.
"He's a difference maker; defensively he changes things with his size and he's got a soft touch inside," said Jordan, having worked with Madsen during his high school days. "He has no idea how good he could be. I think he's going to be a special player if he works hard at it and decides to work on his game.
"He's just at the beginning of his career here, but I see a ton of potential in him," added Jordan. "It was a no-brainer for me to bring him in."
Madsen said having the opportunity to play alongside so many of the guys he played with two seasons ago, including Araujo, was a key selling point in getting him to try school again.
"Just having a really good core group of guys to play with was a really good recruiting point," said Madsen. "I'm definitely more focused on my schooling this year, which is a key point for me and just keeping that going into basketball and keeping that focus is also a good thing for me to do."
