UNBC's men's basketball squad moved into sole possession of third place in its division with a 76-64 win over the Mount Royal Cougars Saturday in Calgary.
The Timberwolves improved to 7-7 and are now in the final playoff spot in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Explorer Division with six games remaining in the regular season.
The Cougars fall to 6-8 and in fourth place in the division.
Combined with their 92-85 victory Friday, UNBC earned the two-game sweep and won the season series 3-1.
"That was a big weekend for us," said Timberwolves' head coach Todd Jordan. "Between the two of us [UNBC and Mount Royal] it's more than likely one of us will end up in a playoff spot. It was a huge sweep for us."
Saturday, UNBC built a 24-15 lead after the first quarter, but the Cougars chipped away to only trail 35-33 by half-time.
UNBC guard Rhys Elliott scored 12 points in the third quarter to extend the Timberwolves lead to 54-43. Elliott finished the game with a team-high 25 points, while Devin McMurty had a double-double, grabbing 16 rebounds and 15 points.
"Rhys was huge for us, he's picked up his game for us," said Jordan. "Devin had 33 rebounds in two games which was also huge."
Mount Royal's top scorers were Derek Wolf and James Lefebvre who each netted 11 points.
On the women's side, UNBC defeated Mount Royal 63-56 to earn its second win of the season.
Sarah Robin led the Timberwolves with 16 points, while Jasprit Nijjar pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with 12 points.
UNBC shot 40.9 per cent from the floor - 11 of 12 players on its roster all scored at least a basket.
The Cougars were led by Jayla Verney and Desiree Oakley who each tallied 14 points.
UNBC improves to 2-12 and remain in last place in the Explorer Division, while the Cougars fall to 5-9 to sit in fourth place.
The Timberwolves return home this weekend, Friday and Saturday, to battle the MacEwan University Griffins. The women tip off at 6 p.m. Friday followed by the men at 8 p.m.
