UNBC Timberwolves men's basketball head coach Todd Jordan had never witnessed anything like it.
And no doubt neither had many of the 487 basketball fans gathered at the Northern Sports Centre Saturday night.
Triple overtime.
It was an 15 extra minutes to watch a thrilling back and forth battle where the Timberwolves eventually succumbed to the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 126-120 in CIS Canada West action.
"We played our best basketball of the season, but our legs were an issue at the end," Jordan said afterwards. "We were playing on fumes. It was a hell of a game and the fans got their money's worth.
"We can learn from triple overtime. It was a good experience for the guys and whoever loses the game, it's tough to take. But we can take positives from it."
T-Wolves got off to fast start from the opening buzzer and held a 73-64 lead after the third quarter. But the Pronghorns fought their way back in the final 10 minutes of regulation.
With 10 seconds left on the regulation clock, Lethbridge's third-year forward Morgan Deuce sunk his two free throws to tie the game 93-93 and the Timberwolves couldn't score on their next possession with time ticking down.
It sent the game into a five-minute overtime and the fans into a frenzy.
"We really battled up and down but we missed too many free throws in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter," Jordan said.
Lethbridge went back to work in overtime and had a 102-99 lead with 13.9 seconds left when UNBC took possession of the ball and marched down the court.
Fourth-year guard Jeff Chu sunk a shot from the left three-point arc with 1.5 seconds left on the clock to tie the game and send it into a second five-minute overtime.
The Timberwolves had a 112-109 lead with 15.5 seconds left, but Lethbridge answered when Logan Reiter sunk a three to tie the game.
With time ticking down and a UNBC possession, point guard Jibreel Stevens had a good look at a two-point field goal, but missed.
That meant a third overtime.
With a minute left, Chu sunk his two shots from the free-throw line to narrow Lethbridge's lead by two points at 122-120, but the Pronghorns held on for the win.
Stevens led the T-Wolves with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Chu collected 17 points.
Their record falls to 4-8 won-lost in the CIS West Pacific Division to sit seventh, while Lethbridge improves to 9-3 for third place in the Prairie Division.
It was Lethbridge's second-straight overtime victory in as many games. They beat Mount Royal University 84-82 Thursday in Calgary.
UNBC now hosts top-ranked University of Victoria Vikes (10-1) Friday and Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre. Tip-off is 8 p.m.
UNBC Women
Sergey Shchepotkin was pretty blunt in his assessment of his UNBC Lady Timberwolves Saturday night.
In a battle of 4-7 teams in CIS Canada West basketball action at the Northern Sport Centre, the T-Wolves fell 62-50 to the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
UNBC now sports a 4-8 record in the CIS West Pacific Division while the Pronghorns improve to 5-7 in the CIS West Prairie Division.
"Our shooting percentage was really bad and every point was very important," UNBC's head coach Shchepotkin said. "If we missed, it was difficult."
"We had a lot of turnovers in the beginning and we were under pressure."
And he's got the stats to prove it.
Timberwolves made only 19 of 67 of their shots from the floor, 28.4 per cent, and were a lowly 22.8 shots from the three-point arc, netting only four of their 18 attempts.
They were better from the free-throw line, sinking eight of their 12 attempts.
UNBC had a narrow 10-8 lead after the first quarter, but the Pronghorns pulled ahead for good in the second quarter thanks to a 22-8 run.
Timberwolves also held Lethbridge's top scorer Kim Veldman to three points in the first half, but they couldn't contain the 6'2" forward in the final 20 minutes when she caught fire with 16 points.
"I took my shots and I was flustered in the first half," Veldman, a fourth-year nursing student said. "I just had to be open more and go up stronger in the second."
Veldman led players on both sides with 19 points.
"We knew she (Veldman) was good and we were aiming to stop her but we couldn't," Shchepotkin said. "Jasprit (Nijjar) fouled out in the third quarter too, but overall we showed a pretty good game."
Rookie guard Mavia Nijjer and fifth-year forward Mercedes VanKoughnett led the T-Wolves with 12 points each.
UNBC hosts University of Victoria Lady (7-5) Friday and Saturday night at the Northern Sport Centre. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
"UVic is one of the top teams in Canada in my opinion and it's going to be extremely difficult," Shchepotkin said. "But we're going to get some good experience."
Notes:
The Lady T-Wolves wore special edition pink jerseys as they participated in the annual CIS Shoot for the Cure night.
It's designed to raise money and awareness for breast cancer and the Timberwolves sold limited edition pink T-wolves shirts with proceeds donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Emblems on the back of the T-Wolves jerseys paid tribute to UNBC Athletic Director Loralyn Murdoch's sister who died from the disease in 2013.
