Arnaud Konan driving in the lane, getting into the chest of a UNBC defender while shielding the ball on his left side
Harsh Banga/UNBC Timberwolves
69
UBC Thunderbirds (M) UBC 0
88
Winner UNBC Timberwolves (M) NBC 0
UBC Thunderbirds (M) UBC
0
69
Final
88
UNBC Timberwolves (M) NBC
0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UBC Thunderbirds (M) UBC 23 11 26 9 69
UNBC Timberwolves (M) NBC 14 27 19 28 88

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | UNBC Communications (with notes from UBC Communications)

T-Wolves hand T-Birds first loss since November

Prince George, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds (10-5) suffered their first loss in nearly two months on Friday night, falling to the UNBC Timberwolves (7-6) by a score of 88-69 at the Northern Sport Centre.

James Woods (19), Micah Jessie (17) and Fareed Shittu (12) led way for the UBC offence, as captain and leading scorer Brian Wallack did not play. UNBC's Chris Ross reached a new career high with 28 points and matched a previous career best with six successful threes. He added 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Josh Gillespie complimented that performance with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
 
James Woods handling the ball with his left hand, turning the corner on the attack

The T-Birds began the game with a 17-7 run. Jessie (8) and Woods (5) had 13 of those 17. Five of the first seven points for UNBC came from Evgeny Baukin who hit a three, and an impressive layup in traffic that came off a slick feed from Justin Sunga. Sunga then nailed a deep three to move the score to 18-12. A few plays later, Evgeny Baukin would later push his first quarter point totals to seven when he cut to the net hard and converted on the lay-up. A late Tobi Akinkunmi three restored momentum for UBC, pushing their lead to 23-14 which is how the quarter would end. Defensively, Gillespie and Akinkunmi had four rebounds apiece.  
 
Ross went nuclear for UNBC in the second quarter. The fifth-year veteran from North Vancouver recorded 13 points and helped spark his squad's 25-7 run to start the quarter, and gain an eventual 41-34 half-time lead. Ross opened the frame with an elbow three and then hit another near the three-minute mark to push his team back within two points at 28-26. Spencer Ledoux then tied the score with a spinning layup, before Gillespie and Ross then supplied layups of their own to push UNBC up 34-28. Five more points from Ross and four from Gillespie rounded out the scoring in the second for the hosts while Woods (5) and Arnaud Konan (4) combined for nine of the 11 UBC points. At half, Gillespie had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UNBC while Woods led UBC with 10 points. 
 
The first three points of the third quarter? Chris Ross. Another elbow three from the left side pushed UNBC ahead 44-34. Woods promptly responded with a silky layup for UBC. Woods (3), Jessie (4) and Shittu (6) combined for 13 early points as UBC started the third on a 13-6 run, tying the score at 47-47. UBC would ultimately outscore UNBC 26-19 on the strength of nine points from both Woods and Jessie and eight from Shittu. Darren Hunter, Spencer Ledoux and Ross each answered with five for UNBC. With time winding down and the score tied 56-56, Woods and Jessie connected on back-to-back layups to put UBC up by four, but back-to-back baskets in response from Gillespie and Ross tied things back up at 60, which is how the third quarter would end. 
 
Tobi Akinkunmi posting up a Timberwolves defender, seen in semi-closeup

Ross put an exclamation point on his career-high night with 10 fourth quarter points as the TWolves outscored the T-Birds 28-9 in the final 10. Gillespie and Baukin notched early buckets for UNBC before Karan Aujla answered with a three for UBC, making it a 64-63 UNBC lead. Ross then drilled a corner three to make it 67-63. In the process, Ross matched his previous career high with 21 points. Moments later he set a new career high when he converted on a pair of free-throws, keeping UNBC ahead by four at 69-65. A big block from Baukin on Adam Olsen then resulted in another layup for Ross, and then Justin Sunga drained a three to move the TWolves up 74-67. Spencer Ledoux then grabbed a Sunga rebound and put it home, increasing the lead to nine at 76-67. The final dagger came from Ross who nailed his sixth and final three of the night from the right-wing elbow, making it an 84-67 lead. Moments later, UNBC was able to celebrate their 88-69 victory. 
 
James Woods was the top scorer for UBC with 19 points along with four rebounds and five assists.  The T-Birds were out-rebounded 46-33 on the night.
 
The TWolves and T-Birds meet again Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. (PT) at the NSC for 2024 Pride Night. Stream all of the action on Canada West TV.
 
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