Devin McMurtry proved why he was named the third star in the Canada West Conference last weekend.
The six-foot-four fifth-year forward for the UNBC Timberwolves continued his dominance on the boards on the weekend, grabbing 11 rebounds and 16 points in their 78-67 win over the MacEwan University Griffins Saturday and another 20 rebounds (a career-high) in Friday's 81-65 win.
The two-game sweep on the weekend at the Northern Sport Centre extended the men's basketball squad winning streak to four and solidified chances of a playoff spot in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Canada West Explorer Division with a 9-7 record.
McMurtry, who had 33 rebounds in two games against Mount Royal on Jan. 20 and 21, points to a few factors in his dominance on the glass the last four games.
"With three of our power forwards injured, my playing time has increased from 25 minutes to 35 minutes a game," said McMurtry. "That increases the chances that I'm going to get a lot of rebounds. Our forwards are boxing out so there's plenty of rebounds to be had. My teammates have allowed me to go out and get the big rebounds."
McMurty said he doesn't get much out of rebounding drills in practice. He said it's more about being physically strong and being able to box his opponents out.
"I intuitively know where the ball's going to go," he said.
The Timberwolves have five players on the disabled list.
Fourth-year forward Colin Plumb and third-year forward Gagan Sahota are out with concussions; fourth-year guard Michael Smith is out with a hamstring injury, first-year forward Vaggelis Loukas is out with an ankle injury and Marcus MacKay has a lower body injury.
With four games left in the regular season, the Timberwolves are on a roll in the second half of the season as they try and lock up the third and final playoff spot in the Explorer Division.
They've won four of their last five games and are tied for second place with Thompson Rivers at 9-7. The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades lead the division with a sparkling 15-0 record.
McMurtry points to their trip to Arizona during the Christmas break where they competed at the Arizona Christian University New Year's Classic in Phoenix.
They were also without their top forward Franco Kouagnia who went home to Cameroon during the holidays to visit his family.
"We were playing every day and we fine-tuned a lot of things," said McMurtry. "It was a huge trip and it boosted our confidence."
They also learned how to protect a lead in the final minutes of a game, such as they did in their pair of wins on the weekend.
"We're so confident in ourselves and in one another," said McMurtry. "We're feeding off our defence and shutting them down. We want to be playing with poise at the end of the season."
But for now, McMurty said they will "take it one game at a time and do the very best we can."
Third-year guard Rhys Elliott led the Timberwolves Saturday with 31 points.
The Griffins fell to 5-11 and are in sixth place in the Explorer Division.
UNBC's women's squad suffered a 75-62 loss to MacEwan Saturday and now drop to 2-14. The Griffins improved to 12-4 and are in second place in the Explorer Division.
Freshman forward Vasiliki Louka scored a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Timberwolves host their final home games of the season this weekend when the UFV Cascades visit Friday and Saturday. The women tip off at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by the men at 8 p.m. at the Northern Sport Centre.
