Strange at it might seem after 11 consecutive losses the UNBC Timberwolves are still in the hunt for a Canada West men’s basketball playoff berth.
To make that postseason berth theirs, they’re going to have to beat the MacEwan Griffins this weekend and hope the odds play out in their favour two times zones away in Manitoba
As cruel as that losing streak has been for the T-wolves (4-14, 13th in Canada West), they have a chance to wipe the slate clean and qualify for the postseason for a third straight season. They just have to sweep the Griffins (2-16) in the season-ending series Friday and Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre and hope the powerful Manitoba Bisons do their part by defeating the underdog Brandon Bobcats at least once in their two-game set this weekend in Winnipeg.
The Bobcats (5-13, 12th place) have won four straight and control their own destiny, holding the final playoff position, but will face stiff opposition from the Bisons (15-3, third place). The T-wolves are coming off a pair of losses last weekend in Regina and haven’t won since Nov. 22, when they topped Thompson Rivers University by two points in Kamloops.
"We've still got a shot, we are blessed to be still playing meaningful games this weekend so we've got to take our best shot at it and see what happens," said T-wolves head coach Todd Jordan.
"I wouldn't say there's a decent chance that we win two that we're in, I mean, it's not totally in our control. Brandon's been playing better of late and you never know what's going to happen out there. At the end of the day, regardless of what happens, we just want to try to end the season here on a positive note and hopefully get playing better basketball."
Injuries to key starters and inexperience on a young team have hurt the UNBC men. They entered the Christmas break with a 4-4 record, cause for optimism on a team that went 0-4 in the preseason, but have faltered ever since. The T-wolves have been without forward Spencer Ledoux since Nov. 23, when he suffered a concussion, and fifth-year forward Anthony Hokanson is still recovering from a sore ankle he injured five minutes into the game against UBC-Okanagan on Jan. 18. Jordan said not having Hokanson at full health, without Ledoux to back him up, were deciding factors in a couple of close losses to UBC-O and Brandon.
"You put that in combination with the fact we're playing a lot of young kids and had a couple guys who have had a bit of tough streak with an inability to make shots, we just had a whole bunch of things come together," said Jordan.
"I think our spirit is still good but obviously nobody's happy about the way things have gone."
While the scoreboard has been a source of sorrow for the T-wolves in 2020, the outstanding 1-2 attack of fourth-year guards Tyrell Laing and Vova Pluzhnikov and the emergence of rookie post Fareed Shittu have been bright spots.
Laing leads Canada West in scoring with 374 points in 18 games, a 22-point average. He overtook Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath of Trinity Western for the scoring lead when Gilbreath was declared ineligible for the rest of the season due to an administrative error in his transfer from a Texas university. Laing did his part trying to end his team’s slump last weekend on the road, leading UNBC with 28 points, six assists and five rebounds in a 90-58 loss Friday to Regina and a 22-point game in a 78-67 defeat Saturday.
"Tyrel is leading the conference in scoring this season and for a P.G. kid that's a huge accomplishment for a guy who didn't start for us last season," said Jordan.
Pluzhnikov has amassed 272 points (21st in Canada West) and has 71 assists (eighth). He’s also the league’s most accurate free-throw shooter, sinking 56 of 62 (90.3 per cent) but he's had trouble finding the net lately with just 12 points in his last three games.
"Vova had a really good start to the season and he's struggled to make shots the last couple weeks but he's one of our leaders and statistically he's had solid season overall, his averages are quite good," said Jordan.
T-wolves forward Fareed Shittu, who has already established new team rookie records for points and rebounds has been a pleasant surprise and could find a place on the Canada West All-Rookie team. In 17 games he’s collected 147 points and has 145 rebounds (sixth).
They tip off against the Griffins Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 7.
The UNBC women (9-9, eighth place) head into their final weekend of the season on a six-game winning streak and have already clinched a playoff spot for the fourth straight year. They swept Regina 73-67 and 76-71 with just six healthy players available each night.
The T-wolves haven’t lost since Jan. 11 when they split a weekend set with Fraser Valley. The top four teams in the conference earn a first-round bye and if the T-wolves remain eighth or better they will host a playoff game for the first time in the school’s eight-year U Sports/CIS history.
Maria Mongomo and Madison Landry continue to set the pace offensively and will be difficult to contain for the Griffins (2-16, 15th place), who have lost 12 in a row.
Coming off a 27-point game Saturday, Mongomo is putting the cap on a marvelous university career and she stacks up second overall in league scoring with 352 points, averaging 19.6 per game. Only Taylor Claggett of Fraser Valley (19.7-point average) has scored more (354). Mongomo’s 59 steals leads the conference.
Landry is the league’s third-most prolific scorer (19.5 average) and she had a 30-point, 10-rebound game on Friday. She also has 35 steals (10th in CW) and an 82.6 per cent field goal average (fifth). UNBC fifth-year guard Emily Holmes has been UNBC’s top playmaker with 67 assists (sixth) and also ranks ninth with 36 steals. Holmes had a season-high 12 points on Saturday. Emilly vanBruinessen, a fourth-year forward, recorded a season-high 17 rebounds for the T-wolves Saturday and now ranks fifth in the conference with a 9.6 average.
The T-wolves-Griffins women’s game starts Friday at noon at the Northern Sport Centre. The rematch is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. T
Four UNBC seniors – Mongomo, Holmes, Hokanson and Saje Gosal - will play their last regular-season games on Saturday.
