For three consecutive games -- all of them losses -- the UNBC Timberwolves have faded in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
It's a trend the Timberwolves men's basketball team must bring to an abrupt halt. The T-wolves will try to do just that when they take on the University of Manitoba Bisons Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre.
On Thursday at the NSC, the Timberwolves trailed the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 79-77 with 5:09 left to play but failed to execute at both ends of the court as time ticked down and fell 91-83. The scenario was similar last weekend, when UNBC dropped road games to the University of Regina Cougars (76-73) and Brandon University Bobcats (61-54).
"I personally don't think I seize up and I don't think the other guys do, but there's definitely something we need to fix," said fifth-year UNBC guard Francis Rowe. "I don't think it's a huge deal. We're fine and we show through most of the game that we can do it. It's just a matter of us turning it up a little bit and doing it at a higher level at the very end."
In the Pacific Division of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, the T-wolves sit at 5-8 and have slipped one spot out of the playoffs, behind the fourth-place Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (6-7). The Bisons, meanwhile, have a 9-5 record and hold the last playoff position in the Prairie Division.
The game will start at 8 p.m.
Earlier, at 6 p.m., the UNBC and Manitoba women's teams will tip off. The fifth-place Timberwolves take a 5-8 record into the contest and the Bisons sit at 2-12, which has them seventh in the Prairie loop.
The T-wolves will look to extend a two-game winning streak.
