The UNBC Northern Timberwolves showed no panic when they were down. Instead, they drained big shots when they needed them and came back to beat the Camosun College Chargers in a Friday night semi-final.
The UNBC men's basketball team, playing in the PACWEST Athletic Association championship tournament in North Vancouver, defeated the Chargers 93-84 and advanced to tonight's provincial final.
Against Camosun, UNBC trailed by as many as eight points in the second quarter and was behind 35-31 at half-time. As the game wore on, the T-wolves' high-powered offence kicked into gear. In the second half, the Timberwolves outscored the Chargers 62-49 and prevented an upset. The T-wolves, who rolled to a pair of one-sided wins against the Chargers during the regular season, came into the six-team tournament ranked second, while the Chargers were the No. 3 seed.
Five UNBC players scored in double-digits. Charles Barton, a third-year guard/forward from Vernon, led the way with 20 points.
Sam Raphael (19), Dennis Stark (15), Francis Rowe (14) and Joel Rybachuk (13) also found ways to solve the Camosun defence. Raphael was deadly from the free-throw line, going 13-for-15 on the night. As time was ticking down in the fourth, he drained a series of foul shots to keep the Chargers in a hole.
Especially in the second half, the Timberwolves did a good job of pushing the ball hard at the Camosun defence and drawing fouls. Overall, UNBC players made 38 trips to the line and scored 30 points. The Chargers, in comparison, hit for just 16 points in 20 chances from the charity stripe.
The Timberwolves prevailed despite the fact their leading scorer during the regular season, Jose Araujo, was held to two points in the contest. Jordan Elvedahl and James Blandford both scored 19 points for the Chargers, who
represent Victoria.
In tonight's championship game, the Timberwolves will take on the top-seeded Vancouver Island University Mariners of Nanaimo, who beat the fifth-ranked Capilano University Blues of North Vancouver 67-57 in Friday night's late game.
The Blues are coached by Prince George's Jordan Yu.
This will be the third consecutive year for the Timberwolves and Mariners in the final. The winner will head to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championship tournament, March 15-17 in Truro, N.S.
The Mariners claimed the B.C. title last year and the T-wolves were victorious in 2010, a year in which they went on to win the CCAA
nationals in Calgary.
