After absorbing the shock of a 34-point loss the previous night to the University of Victoria Vikes, the UNBC Timberwolves were determined to put up more of a fight in their last men’s basketball game before the five-week Christmas break.
The rematch in Victoria began ominously for the T-wolves when they fell behind 21-6 in the early going but they got some help from the bench when Chris Ross and Darren Hunter entered the game and took their team on a 7-0 run which helped the visitors make it six-point game after one quarter.
UNBC sophomore forward Fareed Shittu, in one of his best games of the season, scored 14 points in the second quarter and all of sudden the T-wolves led the No. 9 nationally-ranked Vikes 48-46 heading into the intermission.
The Vikes, inspired by a partisan crowd of crowd of 1,025, came on strong in the third quarter and built a nine-point lead and Diego Maffia and Matthew Ellis continued to hit their shots in the fourth quarter, outscoring the T-wolves 28-14 in the final frame to cap off a 92-72 win.
Maffia ended up with a game-high 25 points, Ellis collected 18 and Scott Kellum had 10. Shittu, a member of the Canada West All-Rookie Team in 2020, picked up 23 points to lead all T-wolves, while Tyrell Laing finished with 18 and Spencer Ledoux had 14.
The weekend sweep of the T-wolves improved UVic’s record to 7-1, good for second place in the West, while UNBC (2-6) remained in fifth place, having lost four straight.
The UNBC (4-4) women lost to Victoria 83-68 earlier Saturday.
The Vikes (4-4) went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to put them in the driver’s seat the rest of the game. Tana Pankratz got it going with consecutive threes and a couple of foul shoots and Ashlyn Day also hit from long range before Sveta Boykova stopped the bleeding with a trey of her own. Outscored 24-10 in the second quarter, the T-wolves trailed by 13 at halftime and were unable to reduce the gap in the second half.
Ashlee finished the game with 18 points, Day and Pankratz totaled 17 and Mimi Sigue had an 11-point night with 10 rebounds. Alina Shakirova also shot 18 points and continues to lead Canada Wet in scoring with a 22-point average. Boykova put up 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Rebecca Landry and Anastasia Soltes each shot 11. Boykova is the leading rebounder in the conference, averaging 13.8 per game.
Both UNBC teams head into the Christmas with 10 games left this season (five at home, five on the road). The T-wolves return to the Northern Sport Centre on Friday, Jan. 14, when Victoria comes to Prince George, followed by a Sunday, Jan. 16 afternoon matinee at the NSC against the UBC Thunderbirds.
