VANCOUVER - Following two straight road trips the No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds return to home court this weekend where they'll welcome the UNBC Timberwolves to historic War Memorial Gym.
 
The first of two meetings is set for Friday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. followed by another 7:00 p.m. tipoff the following night Saturday, January 26.
 
It will be the first regular season meeting between the T-Birds and T-Wolves in over a year dating back to early November of 2017 where UBC managed to sweep the weekend series over UNBC with scores of 100-85 and 104-72 in Prince George.


 

Last Action

 
Last weekend the 'Birds extended their winning streak to 14 consecutive games while improving to 15-1 on the season after back to back road wins over the Brandon Bobcats by scores of 98-81 and 94-74.
 
The Timberwolves sit at 8-8 on the season after splitting their two-game series in Edmonton last weekend. It began with UNBC dropping their Friday night affair by a score of 76-68 before responding with an 81-70 upset victory over the No. 6 Alberta Golden Bears thanks in large part to a career high 25 points from guard Tyrell Laing who was dominant from distance in making seven, three-point attempts.


 

Players to Watch

 
Grant Shephard - (#10, F) The second-year forward recorded back to back double doubles last weekend in combining for 39 points and 33 rebounds, highlighted by his dominating 25 points and 18 rebounds in Saturday night's 94-74 win. The Kelowna native enjoys a 64.9 shooting percentage which ranks first in the Canada West.
 
Patrick Simon – (#11, F) The fifth-year forward was a consistent contributor last weekend earning double doubles on consecutive night's while combining for 30 points and 23 rebounds. The graduating senior scored his weekend high 16 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's triumph in Brandon.


 

Coach's Take

 
"We were happy with getting the two wins in a tough road trip situation," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "It was our fourth straight road game so we finish that stretch and we saw some good things but also saw some things we need to work on after getting exposed in a few areas. It was a chance to play a lot of guys and different lineups and certain things paid off, overall a lot of guys had a chance to get on the scoreboard and obviously it was a good weekend for our bigs on Saturday night. In particular out rebounding Brandon 64-32 was the most positive thing to come out of that anytime you can double a team up on the rebounding stat line you've done something well."
Hanson also looked ahead to what he expects when hosting UNBC this weekend.
 
"I think UNBC has been really solid all year and I think they have a very veteran laden team, a lot of fifth year players that have been together for a long time," added Hanson. "They're a very well coached team I think they're in a groove and have been a scary team all year, I think they work hard and are very disciplined in what they do. It's going to be tough competition, we're getting playoff ready and this is the first step towards that and we're looking at this as a playoff weekend."