VANCOUVER - Armed with a three-game lead in the division and a 10-game win streak, the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds head north this weekend looking to lock up the Pacific Division against the UNBC Timberwolves.
WEBCAST
GAME TIMES
Friday, Feb. 8
8 p.m. - No. 2 UBC at UNBC
Saturday, Feb. 9
7 p.m. - No. 2 UBC at UNBC
No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (16-2)
Last Week: W 96-71, W 95-68 vs Mount Royal
UBC has a three-game lead on Victoria in the Pacific Division with only four games remaining. Their final series of the regular season is a home-and-home with Victoria, but a sweep this week at UNBC would lock up first place in the division for the 'Birds.
The T-Birds got just about everyone to chip in at home last week when they took care of business against a struggling Mount Royal team. Eight different players produced double-digit scoring games in the series, and every active player on the roster got at least 21 minutes of court time.
Coach
Kevin Hanson also has to like his team's defensive activity level, which produced 57 turnovers last weekend. Despite their overall success, UBC has been one of the weaker turnover margin teams in the conference most of the year, but their effort last week was almost enough to bring them back up to even par for the season in the turnover battle.
David Wagner continued his recent scoring tear with a 19-point effort in game one, and while he was held to just four points in game two, he is now the team's second-leading scorer behind senior
Doug Plumb, averaging 11.6 points on a team-high 56 per cent field goal clip. The second-year post has led the team in scoring in half of the games on their current win streak.
As for Plumb and fellow fifth-year
O'Brian Wallace, both had well-rounded performances last week as UBC celebrated senior weekend. Plumb leads UBC with 16 points per game on 50 per cent shooting, and is second on the boards with 5.8 rebounds per game. Wallace is third in team scoring, averaging just over 11 points, and he's also been a valuable piece in the rebounding battle from his guard spot, grabbing about five boards per game.
UNBC Timberwolves (5-13)
Last Week: L 89-80, L 72-61 at Victoria
The Timberwolves were in tough last week, playing a road series against a Victoria side desperate to keep pace with UBC on top of the standings, but they did well to stay competitive in their first-ever CIS conference series against the Vikes. Things weren't as close as the scoreline indicates in game one, as a huge 30-point fourth quarter against the Victoria bench pulled the T-Wolves much closer than they probably should have been. But in game two it was the opposite story, with UNBC running step-for-step with the Vikes up until the fourth, where Victoria outscored them by eight to pull away down the stretch.
That should serve as a message to UBC not to take anything for granted this weekend. The Timberwolves may be on an eight-game losing skid and out of the playoff race, but they don't appear ready for their inaugural CIS season to end without a fight.
The Timberwolves usually live and die by the three-point shot. As a team, they rank third in the conference in efficiency beyond the arc, and senior guards Sam Raphael, Francis Rowe and Jose Araujo are among league leaders individually in three-point shooting. Rowe is second in the league with a .455 clip beyond the arc, helping him average 13.7 points. He has also been near-perfect from the free-throw line, nailing 41 of 42 shots from the stripe.
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