Saturday night in Kamloops, the UNBC Timberwolves men (8-8) dropped the back-half of their weekend double-header with the TRU WolfPack (4-10) by a 69-63 score. The tandem of Daniel Bost (20) and Denys Bachurin (15) combined for 35 points for the ‘Pack while Josh Gillespie (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Chris Ross (15 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for UNBC.
After only managing four points in the first quarter yesterday, the hosts began the night on a 12-6 run and held a 20-18 lead after 10. Five of the first 12 TRU points came from Bachurin while Bost and Simon Crossfield supplied first quarter threes. Gillespie and Ross each had five in the first for UNBC while Darren Hunter and Spencer Ledoux each had four. With 1:45 remaining and TRU leading by six, Gillespie nailed a three. Then 30 seconds later Hunter hit a jumper, making it a one-point game. TRU got one successful free-throw from Cyrus Harrison to round out the first quarter scoring.
Dylon Matthews (UNBC) and Evan Smith (TRU) traded threes in the early moments of the second, but both teams struggled to generate offense as each team had only managed six points through the opening seven minutes and change. The two sides would combine for just 19 in the quarter. A late triple from Ross and a lay-in from Ledoux pulled UNBC back within one, but Bost captured four unanswered points in the final 1:11 for the WolfPack giving them a 31-26 advantage at half. Bost led all players with 10 points at the half while Ross paced the TWolves with eight points and six boards.
A back-and-forth third quarter resulted in a 52-45 TRU lead. It was a busy start to the third as the team’s combined for 15 points in the opening 1:53. Threes from Baukin and Ross and a deuce from Gillespie yielded eight for UNBC while Harrison had four and Bost had three for TRU. Back-to-back buckets from Ross and Baukin forced a 38-38 tie before Rueben Wright hit a close two and a triple to restore a five-point cushion for the home side. The final five points of the quarter for Todd Jordan’s club all came from the stripe as Gillespie (2), Hunter (2) and Justin Sunga (1) all delivered points via the free-throw. Four of Bost’s seven third quarter points came in the later stages, including a late layup to send TRU into the fourth up seven.
The TWolves had their moments in the fourth, outscoring TRU by an 18-17 clip, but were never able to create a big enough run of offense to complete their comeback bid. Gillespie and Harrison swapped layups in the opening minute of the quarter, but TRU created further separation thanks to jumpers from Thomas Olsen and Bachurin, extending their lead to 60-48. A Ledoux layup, and single free-throw makes from Hunter and Gillespie got UNBC to within eight, but Bachurin responded with a timely jumper for TRU. Up seven, Cyrus Harrison missed a pair of free-throws for TRU, opening the door for UNBC to get back to a two-score game. But the WolfPack held their own defensively, limiting UNBC to just two successful field goals in the final two-plus minutes as they were able to secure the 69-63 win. Bachurin led the charge for TRU with eight fourth quarter points, half of which came from the free-throw line. The WolfPack went nine-for-16 from the stripe in the fourth while UNBC hit only six of their 13 tries.
The top performer on the night for the TWolves was Gillespie who ended up with 16 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. His seventh double-double performance resulted in another Earls Road Warrior of the Game honour.
With their weekend split, the TWolves will now set their sights on another road double-header, this time in Langley against Trinity Western beginning next Friday at 8 p.m.