The UNBC Northern Timberwolves have the big picture clearly in focus. They want to win a provincial title and step back onto the national stage for the fourth year in a row.
To achieve those goals, the Timberwolves will need to play hard-nosed, hard-work basketball at the defensive end of the floor. The offence? With the depth of talent they have, point production will take care of itself.
At the Northern Sport Centre on Saturday night, the T-wolves needed to remind themselves about their defensive responsibilities during a 100-64 win against the Quest University Kermodes, the last-place team in the PACWEST Athletic Association. The Timberwolves, who entered the game in second place in the PACWEST standings, allowed the Kermodes to put up 60 points in the first three quarters. In the final quarter, Quest managed just four more.
"We still didn't play the way we wanted to for most of the game," said fourth-year guard Francis Rowe, who paced the UNBC attack with 24 points, including a 6-for-7 night from behind the three-point line. "We had a good fourth quarter though. Defence was spotty at best, at times.
"We know that the things we want to accomplish this season won't be accomplished playing the way we did in the first half," Rowe added. "It's important for us to notice those things and try to correct them as quickly as we can."
Fifth-year post player Dennis Stark, in the last home game of his UNBC career, put on a show for the 1,300 fans in attendance. He finished the contest with 20 points, nine rebounds and four steals and offered up one of the most crowd-pleasing moments when he slammed home an alley-oop pass from Joel Rybachuk half way through the third quarter. Stark was later picked as UNBC's player of the game.
For Stark, some pre-game advice from people like former high school coach Cory Antrim and ex-UNBC player Aidan Kelly brought out the best in him.
"A number of guys were just telling me to not really stress and just have fun and go out and play my game," said Stark, a graduate of Kelly Road secondary. "I think it just made the game a little bit simpler for me and I was able to relax a bit more than maybe I normally have and I was able to be successful."
Graduating UNBC guard Lucas Groot also played his last home game. Stark and Groot were among the guests of honour during a pre-game ceremony.
The Timberwolves improved to 10-2, while the Kermodes dropped to 0-12.
The UNBC men will be back in action Friday and Saturday when they visit the third-place Camosun College Chargers of Victoria (9-4) and the first-place Vancouver Island University Mariners of Nanaimo (12-1).
