Whether they want to admit or not, both UNBC Timberwolves basketball teams are heading into must-win situations in their two-game series this weekend at home against the Mount Royal Cougars.
The UNBC men (4-8) have lost four straight and have tumbled into 12th place in the U Sports Canada West Conference standings, playing in a league in which only the top 12 teams qualify for the playoffs.
The T-wolves women's team (3-9) ranks 13th out of 17 teams in Canada West, having fallen one win behind 12th-place Lethbridge with just eight games left.
The Mount Royal (5-5) is ninth in the Canada West men's team standings and the T-wolves have a chance to make up some lost ground at the expense of the Calgary team if then can pull out a pair of homecourt victories.
"These are going to be critical games as far as the standings go because if we get two we have a chance to move ahead of Mount Royal and get them on tiebreaker which would put us into a more favourable position," said UNBC men's coach Todd Jordan. "I would think if we don't win them both, there's still hope there. But we play some pretty strong competition after this weekend and with a bye week next week we have no chance to pick up wins there."
Both T-wolves teams tipped off the 2017 schedule last weekend in Lethbridge, losing both games to the Pronghorns. The men fell 82-71 the first night and 76-63 in the rematch. Throughout the season, UNBC has been outscored only 71.8 points while allowing an average 79.8 points. Their inability to score at critical times, especially from long range, has hurt them. The T-wolves lack size and their success depends on hitting three-point shots, which haven't been falling with regularity. They've averaged just 31.7 per cent from three-point land this season.
"I think part of the issue we've had is we've had some key guys out with injuries and that's affected our rhythm," said Jordan. "It's clear looking at our stats we haven't shot the three as well as we needed to. For some reason, we've shot it well in our exhibition stuff - we shot over 50 per cent in our Christmas break games in Montreal - but for whatever reason we've struggled during conference play. I'm more than confident when we're humming we can score."
Forwards Josh Ross and Brett Layton are the biggest scoring threats for Mount Royal, averaging 19.3 and 16.2 points respectively. The six-foot-eight Layton is tough under the hoop as well, averaging 10.9 rebounds.
"They both rebound at a high clip and that's obviously a big issue for us because we've struggled to rebound the basketball," said Jordan. "The other thing they do is score pretty well in transition."
The T-wolves will be leaning heavily on senior forward Rhys Elliott, who averages a team-high 16.7 points and plays 30 minutes per game. The only other T-wolf averaging double figures in points is Marcus MacKay, with 13.5 per game. UNBC post Austin Chandler is fully recovered from a leg injury and has averaged 16 points the past four games.
Saturday night in Lethbridge, the UNBC women blew the lead they'd held for the first 38 minutes of the game and lost 73-69 to the Pronghorns. But the writing was on the wall for head coach Sergey Shchepotkin his team was in trouble long before the lead change.
"We played a really good first 15 minutes but we just didn't control the situation, it was so many weak attacks and when we weren't successful then everybody tried individual things to try to save the team individually," said Shchepotkin.
The T-wolves lost the first game in Lethbridge 89-70. Looking at the standings, Mount Royal has won just two of eight games this season. Shchepotkin knows how critical it is for his team to win but he's not about to put any more heat on his players than they put on themselves.
"We just want to show a good game because I don't want the pressure that we must win and if not so what's going to happen, are we going to kill everyone," the third-year Russian-born T-wolves coach joked. "I just want them to show everything they can do and then I'm pretty positive about the result."
UNBC guard Maria Mongomo has picked up where she left off last year when she was forced to leave the T-wolves at midseason and return to her native Spain due to a visa issue. The second-year point guard is once again the T-wolves' top scorer, averaging 16.2 points and 7.9 rebounds, and plays more minutes (30.7 per game) than any of her teammates.
"She's playing good but I feel there's more potential in her and she can play even better," said Shchepotkin. "She and Vasiliki (Louka) are doing really well and they play better together and we're starting to see the results but we still have a lot to work on."
Louka, a third-year forward, is the T-wolves' octopus underneath the hoop, good for 8.9 rebounds per game while averaging nearly 15 points. But after that, UNBC's scoring firepower drops off considerably. Shchepotkin is counting on first-year forward Madison Landry and senior guards Stacey Graham, Kylie Pozniak and Hannah Pudlas to find the net with more frequency this weekend. Landry was trying to beat a flu bug last week and Shchepotkin said that showed in her play in Lethbridge but she's close to 100 per cent healthy to face the Cougars tonight.
Becky Nash, the Cougars' six-foot-four fourth-year post, could give the T-wolves a few headaches this weekend. She averages 12 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game (second in Canada West) and she leads the conference while averaging 2.8 blocked shots.
"They have a couple of experienced guards and they play aggressive defence and they are quick so it will be tough to play against them but we can do it," said Shchepotkin.
Following this weekend, both UNBC teams will have next weekend off, then hit the road for games against Manitoba (Jan. 27-28) and UBC (Feb. 9-10). They'll return to the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre to close out the regular season against Saskatchewan (Feb. 10-11).
"We're still in contention for playoffs," said Pozniak, in a team release. "We have eight more games left, we are in 13th place, and the top 12 make it. There's still a good chance to go to the playoffs if we work our butts off."
Game times tonight are 6 p.m. (women) and 8 p.m. (men).
