When they resume their season Friday night in Lethbridge, the UNBC Timberwolves will have every reason to feel good about themselves.
During the Christmas break, the Timberwolves won two of three games at a men's basketball tournament in Montreal. The team competed in the Olga Hrycak Classic, held at the University of Quebec at Montreal, and advanced to the championship game against the Memorial University Sea-Hawks. Against the Sea-Hawks, from St. John's, Nfld., the T-wolves fell 79-70.
In their first two games, the Timberwolves beat the host UQAM Citadins 86-80 and downed the Guelph Gryphons 76-71.
"It was good for us to go out and play some other (U Sports) teams and get an opportunity to win a couple of big games," said UNBC head coach Todd Jordan. "I think it just gives us some confidence going into the second half of the year."
Much like the Timberwolves (4-6 record, 10th out of 17 in Canada West), the Citadins and Gryphons are middle-of-the-pack squads in their conferences. As for the Sea-Hawks (6-2), they are first overall in Atlantic University Sport. In the tournament final, played on Dec. 31, the Sea-Hawks prevailed against a UNBC team that was missing six-foot-five forward Vaggelis Loukas because of an ankle sprain.
"It was a very winnable game for us," Jordan said. "I think having Vaggelis would have definitely helped us there. We turned (the ball) over a little bit too much and didn't defend well enough in defensive transition, which hurt us a bit, especially down the stretch. It wasn't like we played terrible - it was the third game in three days, we were a little bit beat up and just didn't have a couple bounces go our way.
"We would have obviously liked to have won it and come home with a tournament trophy but, at the end of the day, those games were just about us sharpening up for the second half of the season."
Against the Sea-Hawks, guards Marcus MacKay and Rhys Elliott led UNBC with 22 and 21 points respectively. Elliott hit for a game-high 27 points against the Citadins and Loukas drained a game-high 28 against the Gryphons.
At the end of the tournament, Elliott was selected as an all-star. After battling various injuries during the first half of the season (heel, groin, back), he was finally healthy and was able to showcase his true abilities.
"He's a talented guy," Jordan said of Elliott, a fifth-year player who leads the T-wolves in Canada West scoring with an average of 18.9 points per game. "He scores at a high level and obviously we're better with him on the floor than without."
Jordan expects to have Loukas in the lineup for Friday's game against Lethbridge. The Timberwolves and fifth-place Pronghorns (6-4) will also square off on Saturday.
In the days leading up to Christmas, the Timberwolves landed top recruit Adam Pahl for the 2017-18 season.
Pahl, a six-foot-five forward from Okotoks, Alta., visited UNBC in October and liked what he saw. His commitment to UNBC was announced Dec. 21. Other teams that had been seeking Pahl's services included the University of Alberta, Mount Royal University and the University of Regina.
"I don't know how many schools actually contacted him but he would have had a fairly big number," Jordan said. "I think we were able to show him a lot about our community support and a lot about the more personal kind of experience he would have at UNBC and I think that was big to him. He comes from a little bit of a smaller place in Okotoks and I think he was really prudent in his decision-making process of finding a situation that was good for him, both basketball-wise and life-wise."
Pahl has the versatility to fill just about any spot on the floor but Jordan said he'll likely spend most of his time at small forward or forward.
"He's one of the most naturally talented guys we've ever brought in," the coach added.
Pahl played high school basketball for Foothills Composite and averaged more than 20 points per game in his Grade 11 and 12 seasons. He also suits up in the highly-respected Genesis club program.
"I feel like I can do damage from anywhere," Pahl said in a media release. "I am comfortable anywhere on the floor, whether that be outside, posting up, or taking guys off the dribble. I am extremely thankful and excited to be a Timberwolf."
On the academic side of the equation, Pahl plans to study chemistry at UNBC.
