VANCOUVER — The UBC Thunderbirds earned a decisive 93-67 victory over the UNBC Timberwolves on Sunday evening to split their home opening weekend series inside War Memorial Gym.
"I thought UNBC played exceptionally well last night," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson after the bounce-back performance lifted the T-Birds into the win column early in the Canada West regular season. "They shot the ball well and I want to give them credit. It was a gut check for us to see what we're made out of, and our guys responded tonight. Last night was our first game in about three weeks so we showed a little bit of rust, but there's a lot of parody in the league so you can't take a night off. Early on tonight we played great defensively to hold them to 11 points in the first quarter and we missed some shots. Overall, it was a good chance for us to get twelve guys into the game, and we're feeling good about it. We played with some emotion and that's what a lot of these games are going to be about."
Brian Wallack put up a team-high 26 points for the T-Birds and went nine-for-twelve from the floor with four rebounds and two steals in the win.
"I'm really happy for Brian," said Hanson after the veteran forward and team captain exploded for 13 points in the third quarter to help the 'Birds pull away en route to victory. "His role has changed quite a bit over the years, but now he's really stepping up and being a leader both on and off the court. He's a calming presence out there – but he's also so tough and physical as a difficult matchup for a lot of teams. He's doing a lot for us right now. Obviously tonight we needed his leadership and I thought he responded really well."
James Woods poured in 24 points and shot 67 percent from three with four assists and two steals, while Tobi Akinkunmi racked up a career-best 13 points for the 'Birds and added five boards in 13 minutes of action.
Fareed Shittu had a monster 12 points with 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, Micah Jesse had a team-high 13 points with three rebounds and three assists, and Chris Ross had nine points with seven rebounds before fouling out in the loss.
Akinkunmi scored a pair of free throws before knocking down a three for a 17-9 T-Bird lead in the first, as UBC's defence clamped down to maintain an eight-point edge into the second quarter up 19-11. Jesse cut the deficit to 23-19 with a three for UNBC and Shittu made it a one possession game with a back door cut for a dunk at 28-25 UBC. Shittu came up with two huge blocks for the Timberwolves, but Woods responded with a deep three and a strong take to the rim at 39-31 'Birds. Woods continued to cook and finished in the paint with a pull-up jumper as the T-Birds headed into halftime up 45-31.
Akinkunmi hit a three early in the third to push the lead to 51-31, but Spencer Ledoux went to work in the paint and brought UNBC within 11 midway through the frame. The 'Birds regrouped, and Wallack drained a triple before scoring an easy layup and added a late bucket for a 68-52 cushion after three. Wallack was right back at it in the fourth – scoring again in the paint to restore a 72-52 lead in the fourth. Sukhman Sandhu and Akinkunmi each hit a triple to give the T-Birds a 78-56 advantage that they carried through to a comfortable 93-67 victory.
"We're going to take a couple days now to focus on ourselves and correct what we need to," said Hanson as UBC will head to Langley for a series with the Trinity Western Spartans on November 18
th and 19
th. "I had a chance to watch some video and see some things we need to work on. It's a tough schedule so you've got to perform on the road in this league. It's all about getting better…maybe taking one on the chin last night could bode well for us if we learn from it and hopefully, we did."
