Even against U SPORTS Canada West men’s basketball powerhouses, the UNBC Timberwolves refuse to back down.
In an overtime classic Friday at the Northern Sport Centre the T-wolves dominated the glass and defeated the Calgary Dinos 95-92.
The two teams came out trading possession of the lead and the momentum early in the first quarter, until back-to-back three-pointers by Micah Jessie gave the Timberwolves a 16-10 advantage with two minutes remaining. Matei Vucenovic answered late in the frame with a tough bucket inside, but the T-wlves held a 17-15 lead after ten minutes.
The second quarter belong to UNBC. After an Aidan Smith put the Dinos up 19-17 the T-wolves went on a 17-2 run, fueled by treys from Fareed Shittu, Jessie, Darren Hunter, and Jackson Netzel. Calgary chipped into the deficit on a pair of layups by guard Ezeoah Santiago, but Shittu and Evgeny Baukin made late three-pointers to give the T-wolves a 44-32 at halftime.
Coach Dan Vanhooren’s halftime speech must have resonated with his Dinos players, because Calgary came out with visible intent in the third quarter. Noah Wharton scored four early points, Smith made a fastbreak layup, and a Javier Ramos-Yquierdo jumper cut the UNBC lead to 47-46 midway through the stanza.
The two teams traded control much of the third, until UNBC seized a moderate five-point lead late in the frame on a Jessie triple and some strong play from reserve guard Justin Sunga. UNBC held a 62-57 lead with 10 minutes to play, but had their hands full holding off a dangerous Dinos team.
UNBC captain Chris Ross was a man possessed in the fourth, grabbing offensive rebounds and getting tough putbacks, despite being undersized to be making an impact under the hoop. However, Aidan Smith wasn’t going to let Calgary go quietly in front of a raucous crowd. The six-foot-six guard teamed with Wharton to score 10 consecutive points and seize a 77-72 lead with less than four minutes remaining.
A Shittu three cut the lead to two, leading to dramatics in the final minute. After a missed jumper, UNBC big man Spencer Ledoux corralled the offensive rebound and got the tough putback to go, tying the score at 81-81 and sending the game to overtime.
The extra frame was fireworks as the teams traded three-pointers; first Smith for the Dinos, then Sunga for the Timberwolves, then Shittu for the T-wolves, answered by Santiago for the Dinos. After Ledoux found Shittu for a dunk, the T-wolves were able to do enough defensively to thwart Calgary’s best efforts, icing the game with free throws.
Jessie was UNBC’s leading scorer, going for 24 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Hunter had 19 points, Shittu was tremendous with 15 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks, while Ross had a career-high 18 rebounds to go along with 12 points. Ledoux also reached double figures with 10 points.
For Calgary, Smith led the way with 27 points and nine rebounds. Santiago scored 21 points, while Wharton had 17 points. Ramos-Yzquierdo reached double figures with 11 points and eight boards.
With the win, UNBC improves to 4-3, while the Dinos fall to 4-3. The two teams will finish off their two game series Saturday (6 p.m.) at the Northern Sport Centre.
