After a pair of close calls last weekend, the UNBC Timberwolves basketball teams will renew their quest for their first wins of the Canada West season tonight and Saturday against the Trinity Western University Spartans.
The UNBC women's team will be looking to build off an 82-80 overtime loss to Alberta last Saturday. The Timberwolves led for most of the contest, only to see the Pandas come back and then pull the win away in the last half-minute of the extra session. Alberta won Friday night's game 78-65.
Timberwolves head coach Sergey Shchepotkin said the team showed it can compete against one of the top schools in Canada West.
"I'm happy that we've become more mature, that we've become stronger and tougher and the players have started believing they're a good team," he said.
Forward Vasiliki Louka was strong in the paint last weekend and leads the team with an average of 16 points per game through two weeks of action. Guard Maria Mongomo is close behind with 13.5 points per game and has a team-high 8.5 rebounds per contest.
The Timberwolves (0-4) will need to contend with a 3-1 Spartans team coming off a weekend split against the University of the Fraser Valley. Tessa Ratzlaff leads the Trinity Western attack with 17 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
The UNBC men's team came close to knocking off the visiting Golden Bears last Friday but dropped a 78-69 decision. The Timberwolves (0-4) were within two points with fewer than two minutes to play, but Alberta made its free throws down the stretch to secure the win. On Saturday a red-hot U of A team won 110-56.
"This is a big character weekend for the team," UNBC head coach Todd Jordan said. "The guys are looking forward to getting back out and competing again after a tough loss last Saturday."
Fifth-year guard Rhys Elliott leads UNBC with an average of 19.3 points per game, which puts him fifth in Canada West through two weeks of play. Meanwhile, guard Marcus MacKay has hit 10 three-pointers this season and has a success rate of 45.5 per cent from beyond the arc.
The Spartans (2-2) have earned splits against UBC Okanagan and the University of the Fraser Valley so far. They've been getting balanced scoring, with Vartan Tanielian (14.5 points), Pogos Trunyan (14), Tyus Allen (13.3) and Patrick Vandervelden (10.8) all averaging double digits per game.
"Trinity has a number of very good three-point shooters," Jordan said. "It will be important that we are disruptive defensively to take them away from the looks they want."
The women's games go at 6 tonight and 5 p.m. on Saturday. The men play at 8 tonight and 7 p.m. on Saturday, all at the Northern Sport Centre.
