Offensively, they have the talent to shoot down most of their opponents.
But the UNBC Northern Timberwolves sometimes lack the defensive discipline that can turn a good team into a championship team. On Saturday night at the Northern Sport Centre, the Timberwolves showed a renewed commitment to defence and beat the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Eagles 105-61 in a B.C. Colleges Athletic Association men's basketball game.
The previous night, the Timberwolves also grounded the Eagles but gave up way too many points to a team that is near the bottom of the BCCAA standings. That game ended 114-91 in favour of UNBC.
In Saturday's rematch, the Timberwolves rose to a challenge issued by head coach Todd Jordan.
"We actually set a goal to hold them under 60 for the Saturday night game," Jordan said. "That was definitely a huge change. I was really happy with our performance on Saturday, just the fact that the guys were able to bear down and focus a little bit more on the defensive end of the floor.
"Obviously if we're going to perform at provincials and if we're lucky enough to get to nationals, we're going to have to be good at that end of the floor."
The Timberwolves are the defending B.C. and national champions and have every intention of trying to defend both titles this season. Currently, they are ranked No. 7 in Canada.
Within the BCCAA, the T-wolves improved to 11-2 and trail only the first-place Vancouver Island University Mariners, who sit at 12-1. The Eagles, ninth out of 10 teams, dropped to 1-11.
In Saturday's contest, UNBC guard Francis Rowe continued to have the hot hand. With 20 points, he led the Timberwolves in scoring for the third consecutive game. Rob Rodriguez and Inderbir Gill both added 14 for UNBC.
The T-wolves will be on the road this coming weekend. They have Friday and Saturday games against the Camosun College Chargers of Victoria.
n After Friday's game, UNBC guard/forward Harmeet Mahal decided to quit the team. Jordan supported his decision.
"He's not going to be with us anymore," Jordan said of Mahal, an off-season recruit from Surrey. "He had some issues that I didn't understand. He was frustrated about stuff. At this point, we both made the decision that parting ways was probably the best thing."
Mahal, for personal reasons, missed the first half of the season. He was only in uniform for a total of five regular-season games.
