They have now lost four in a row. That's the bad news.
The good news for the UNBC Timberwolves is, despite the slide, they're only two points out of a playoff spot.
The UNBC men's basketball team dropped its latest game in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association on Saturday night at the Northern Sport Centre. This time, the talented and physical University of Manitoba Bisons handed the Timberwolves a 90-79 defeat. While the T-wolves battled for the full 40 minutes, turnovers were their undoing. Against an aggressive Manitoba defence, UNBC players gave the ball away 26 times and those miscues turned into 25 points for the Bisons.
"The turnovers were the knife in our back," said UNBC head coach Todd Jordan. "Any time that happens, you're slimming down your margin for error."
As for stopping the losing skid, Jordan said staying positive and putting in the maximum effort every practice and every game is key.
"We're really going to have to be mentally tough," he said. "It's easy to put your head down when you've struggled a few games in a row and you haven't been able to get that 'W.' But, you've got to keep grinding and you hope that that hard work will pay off and you get a few wins down the stretch. It's been frustrating - we've been so close in a lot of games."
The Bisons improved to 10-5 in the Prairie Division and the T-wolves dropped to 5-9 in the Pacific Division. UNBC, however, is just two points back of the fourth-place Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (6-9) and has a game in hand on TRU. So yes, with eight games left in their regular-season schedule, the Timberwolves are still very much focused on qualifying for playoffs as a first-year team in Canada West.
"That's the goal," said UNBC forward Gabe Aubertin, who had 15 points and seven rebounds against the Bisons. "We want to make playoffs and I personally believe we have the talent on the team to do it. The ball just hasn't bounced our way for a few games but that's all right. We've got to keep our heads up and we'll get it back."
The Timberwolves and Bisons were tied 26-26 after the first quarter and Manitoba led 46-39 at halftime. After three quarters, the Bisons had a 61-57 advantage and outscored the T-wolves 29-22 in the fourth to create the final margin of victory.
Jose Araujo knocked down a team-high 19 points for UNBC while Jonar Huertas scored 27 for Manitoba.
The Timberwolves will play their next four games on the road, against Abbotsford's University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (Friday and Saturday) and the University of Victoria Vikes (Feb. 1-2). UFV has been ranked as high as fourth in the country this season and is currently seventh.
The Cascades are in third place in the Pacific Division with a 7-7 record. Like the T-wolves, they are on a four-game losing streak.
