If the UNBC Timberwolves could save time in a bottle, some of it would be earmarked to extend the playing career of Vova Pluzhnikov.
In the six years he’s been associated with UNBC men’s basketball, the Ukrainian-born-and-raised guard has become an irreplaceable cog in the machinery that makes the T-wolves’ world go round.
Without him, it’s doubtful the T-wolves would have accomplished the 82-78 victory they did Saturday night in Langley against the Trinity Western University Spartans.
In what was likely his finest game of the season, Pluzhnikov had the golden touch. Five attempts from three-point land resulted in nothing but net. His remarkable performance was readily apparent, with 21 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals, but equally important was the quiet confidence he showed and smart choices he made moving the ball and the calming effect that had on his teammates.
With the Spartans surging with a second-half push, just like they did in their 105-101 overtime win over UNBC on Friday, the T-wolves needed someone to show them how to snatch victory out of defeat and Pluzhnikov was up to the challenge.
“He’s struggled to shoot the ball this year a little bit and it was good to see him get going and making some shots and stepping up like we like our fifth-year guys to be able to do,” said T-wolves head coach Todd Jordan. “His contributions were a huge part of the game.”
Pluzhnikov’s U SPORTS basketball career is rapidly winding down, with just three regular season games left for the fifth-year guard from Kharkiv, Ukraine, who turns 27 on Tuesday, and he’s been finding the net with greater regularity in recent weeks. He struck for 19 points Jan. 28 against Fraser Valley, had 19 in Friday’s OT loss to Trinity Western and finished with 21 in Saturday’s rematch.
Pluzhnikov is feeling weight coming off his shoulders.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “I was thinking about my shot selections (Friday) and some of those were rushed and today I just focused on taking really good shots and leading our team not only in terms of scoring, because that’s never my goal, but in terms of decision-making and being level and having that next-play mentality.”
He said the T-wolves learned from their mistakes the previous night.
“Yesterday was a close game and we thought we had it, with a couple minutes left in the game we were up nine, but it’s something we still need to get better at as a team,” said Pluzhnikov. “We have a lot of young guys on the team and defensively we have to stay sharp. That game, we let them go on a little run and hit a couple wide-open threes on transition Instead of just taking responsibility and finding our matchups, we were just pointing at each other and hoping that someone would rotate on their shooters, but no one did and they got a couple open shots down the stretch.
“We knew it was their senior night and they were going to come out strong, and they did, but we weathered the storm and got a couple of stops in the beginning. After they hit a couple tough shots, and we executed and got the ball to the rim a few times and had a couple layups. I think that was the key, we didn’t just shoot the ball from three constantly, we wanted to get the ball inside to our bigs, Spencer and Fareed.
“We trusted each other, offensively and defensively, and the scoresheet shows the result of our teamwork today.”
UNBC led by 12 at the half, 50-38, and the T-wolves maintained an 11-point bulge after three quarters, up 63-52. Playing their last home game of the season at Langley Events Centre, the Spartans certainly made things interesting in the final 10 minutes.
They chopped the lead down to six points before Spencer Ledoux and Fareed Shittu connected on layups to give UNBC a bit more breathing room. But Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath, the Spartans’ fifth-year guard, despite working the entire second half with four fouls, kept coming on strong. He made a layup of his own, stole the ball from Ledoux and set up Tre Fillmore for a corner trey that made it a one-point game with 4:29 left.
The Spartans continued to force turnovers and after Andrew Goertzen tied it on a free throw, Gilbreath took a pass from Mason Bourcier and drove in for the bucket and a 73-71 lead. It stayed that way until, with 1:55 left, Chris Ross found the net for a three to put the T-wolves ahead. The lead see-sawed back and forth with Gilbreath and Shittu doing the damage.
Then with 50 seconds left, Pluzhnikov fired a rainbow to complete a perfect 5-for-5 night from three-point range and make it a 79-75 game. Gilbreath had one last three-point strike up his sleeve to raise the Spartans hopes, but Tyrell Laing came right back with a jumper with 28 seconds left. Gilbreath launched one more long-range bomb but missed. Pluzhnikov snagged the rebound and took the ball deep but ‘Q’ as Gilbreath is known around the league, blocked the shot. With eight seconds left, Fillmore rebounded ad quickly moved the ball up to Bourcier, whose hail-Mary shot fell short of the target.
“We defended much better tonight than Friday) night, which was a big difference,” said Jordan. “We fought to be able to finish around the basket a little bit, and their kid Q (Gilbreath) got going and really was tough late in the game. Fortunately, we defended well enough over the course of the game we had a bit of a cushion and were able to hold there. Chris Ross made a big three late that kind of helped us.
“It’s been an up-and-down season and it’s nice to get that ‘W,’ and get a split here.”
Laing had his usual productive day at the office with 17 points. Shittu’s athleticism above the rim while getting to rebounds and ability to leap high enough to slam the ball through the hoop is a marvel to watch. He had 11 points 12 rebounds and two blocks. Rotash Mattu also hit double figures with10 points. Gilbreath, the Canada West scoring leader, collected 33 points, while Goertzen picked up 13.
The T-wolves men are down to their last three games of the season, all on consecutive Saturdays. They play UBC-Okanagan in Kelowna next weekend, then host Trinity Western and Victoria at the Northern Sport Centre.
The Spartans (6-9) had won six of their last seven games heading into Saturday. All 17 Canada West teams will advance to the men’s playoff tournament in Lethbridge, March 4-6. The T-wolves (5-10, fifth in the West Division) will ty to improve their standing to have a better shot at surviving into the second day of elimination games.
“It really is about just peaking at the right time,” said Jordan. “We’ve got enough pieces on this team if we can really find a rhythm here the next three weeks and get a bunch of guys playing well, then we have a real good shot of having a good playoff push.”
