A career night from Justin Sunga electrified the Regina crowd, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to guide UNBC to victory. Friday night in Regina, the UNBC Timberwolves fell 84-64 to the Regina Cougars. Sunga, an elite distributer at the Canada West level, showed an equally elite finishing ability Friday to the tune of 29 points on 10-of-14. Sunga connected on six-of-eight from deep and added three rebounds and a steal for good measure. Lodie Kenyi produced an impressive 28 points for the Cougars on 10-of-15 from the field while Jordan Persad (15) and Ben Kamba (12) also made life difficult for the TWolves defensively.
A three from Regina’s Kamba was quickly followed by a Sunga layup with an ‘And 1’ free-throw for UNBC as both teams got on the board early in a back-and-forth first quarter. The next eight points in a row for UNBC came from Baukin, who grabbed two buckets in close, a three and a single free-throw to help UNBC to an 11-7 lead. The final points of the quarter for Todd Jordan’s club came off a long three from Sunga, as the TWolves took a 14-13 lead into the second. Ben White, making his first Canada West start, grabbed three first quarter rebounds to share the team lead with Baukin. Kenyi led the Cougars in response with five first quarter points while Kamba supplied three rebounds.
The first seven points of the second quarter came from Regina’s Persad who hit twice from in close, and once from three to put Regina ahead. Sunga bit into that lead with his second three of the night, but just over four minutes into the second Regina led 26-17, thanks to an 13-3 run. With Regina leading 33-19, Sunga answered with a pair of buckets – first a three (his third of the day), and then a layup. Chris Ainsley then notched his first bucket of the game, forcing UNBC back to within seven. Back came Lodie as he buried his third three of the night, and the fifth of the half for Regina who led by 10 until the final minute when Sunga nailed his fourth three of the day.
The Sun God wasn’t done. With Regina up seven and time ticking down on the quarter, Sunga took the inbound pass, raced up the floor and threw up a running three pointer before the buzzer sounded and it connected! Sunga’s fifth triple of the evening helped push UNBC back to within four (42-38) and gave him 22 points at the half – which marked a new single-game career high for the third-year guard from Burnaby. At half, Sunga was eight-for-11 from the field.
Not to be outdone at the other end was Kenyi who had 19 on six-of-eight.
The first points of the third quarter for UNBC? You guessed it. Sunga hit an impressive running jumper. Baukin followed with a layup and Marcus Wilson then nailed a three to temporarily put UNBC up by one. Kamba answered with an immediate three for Regina, as the lead continued to change hands. A Jamie White layup pushed Regina ahead by five, but two more free-throws from Sunga pushed his point total to 26. Isaiah Bias hit two free-throws down the stretch for UNBC to keep his squad within four, but a buzzer-beating layup from Regina’s Persad marked the final bucket of the quarter and pushed Regina’s lead to 58-52.
Regina opened the fourth quarter with a jumper from Zachary Hillis, but Sunga answered with his sixth three, pushing him to 29 points and his team back within five. A jumper from Kamba and a three from Hillis though returned Regina’s lead to 10. Cade Mather added a triple on Regina’s next possession making it a 68-57 lead for the hosts. A layup from Ainsley moved UNBC back to within single digits, but that’s as close as they’d come. Regina outscored UNBC 16-5 down the stretch with White providing five, and Lodie providing four. The final score showed 84-64 for Regina who have now won two straight and improved their record to 2-3.
Todd Jordan’s crew are right back at it against the Cougars tomorrow at 5:00 pm PT local time.