In all the years that have come and gone since they joined the Canada West Conference in 2012, nothing compares to the colossal heist the UNBC Timberwolves pulled off on the men's playoff basketball court Wednesday in Winnipeg.
The 12th-seeded T-wolves eliminated the No. 5 nationally-ranked UBC Thunderbirds 86-76 to advance to a quarterfinal matchup against the host Manitoba Bisons on Thursday (6 p.m. PT).
Point guard Justin Sunga shot a team-high 17 points and had seven assists and four steals and he spurred the T-wolves’ aggressive transition defence that was key in the victory.
“With UBC, one thing is taking away their transition. That’s where they got most of their scoring, they love to get out and run,” said Sunga.
“If we take away that sideline pass, we’re in good shape. Our team, as long as we trust in each other, we can do it all.”
Six UNBC shooters reached double figures. Darren Hunter hit for 17 points, Josh Gillespie put up 15 points and six rebounds, Spencer Ledoux had 14 points, Evgeny Baukin scored 11, while Chris Ross had ten points and nine rebounds.
James Woods led all T-Birds with a game-high 25 points and five assists while former UNBC forward Fareed Shittu shot 17 points. Brian Wallack, UBC’s leading scorer and a Canada West first -team all star, was limited to seven points and veteran Tobi Akinkunmi scored just two points before he fouled out.
“They were putting the ball in the hoop and we weren’t really getting stops on defence. It made it hard for us to go in transition,” said Woods.
“Their bigs were finishing well, and we struggled to share the ball. We attacked a bit, didn’t really find shooters and didn’t finish well. We just have to play a little more unselfish.”
Ahead 38-35 at the half, the T-wolves increased their lead to 14 in the third quarter after successive threes from Sunga, Ross and Baukin.
UNBC led 58-50 lead after three quarters, and Woods took off on an 8-0 run, while All-Rookie selection Adam Olsen hit a three and followed that up with an and free throw to cut the T-Wolves lead to four.
Gillespie finished a contested shot off the glass shortly after, but UBC went on another run, and made it a 72-70 game following a Woods layup.
But Hunter responed with a long field goal, and UNBC finished with a 12-6 run in the final minute.
“I want to give a shoutout to Darren for hitting that big shot. We really needed that,” added Sunga.
“We kept our composure, we just had to breathe.”
For UNBC it marks their second ever Canada West playoff victory and their third victory in their last five meetings with UBC.
The UNBC- Manitoba game will be streamed live on Canada West TV
