
Saturday night at UBC, the UNBC Timberwolves (1-9) fell 88-59 to the UBC Thunderbirds (8-3). Halfway through the game, the short-staffed TWolves trailed by only three – but a 27-4 run in the third quarter helped cement the victory for UBC, handing the TWolves their second road loss in as many nights.
A tough first quarter for UNBC saw UBC jump out to a convincing 27-12 lead. Nine of UBC’s first 20 points on the night came from leading scorer Adam Olsen who hit back-to-back triples. The first quarter offense from Todd Jordan’s club was spread out as Chris Ainsley, Wesley Ainu’u, Milan Pasquale, Danilo Gonzalez, Ben White and Evgeny Baukin all found the scoresheet.
Given UNBC’s short bench and travel, they could have easily folded up shop early, but instead they answered with a second quarter effort that saw them outscore the T-Birds 25-13. Isaiah Bias and Baukin each notched seven points in the second, but had help from the likes of White and Ainsley. Ainsley and Baukin each finished the first half with eight points apiece, and Ainsley, who no doubt had friends and family in the stands, was especially efficient shooting three-of-four from the field. With time winding down in the quarter, Ainsley hit an especially difficult jumper in close, in traffic to pull UNBC within five. Baukin and Ainsley each had eight through 20, and Baukin led all players with 10 first-half rebounds.
Olsen tacked on two more for UBC in the second and led all scorers at half with 11 points, while Tobi Akinkunmi led the way with five second quarter points.
Guzina and Olsen came out early in the third and delivered tough makes for UBC, pushing their lead back to seven early. The T-Birds rode that early momentum to a convincing 27-4 third quarter performance. All four of the points in the third for UNBC came from Ainsley, while UBC’s offense was spread around nicely with seven different players recording field goals.
Bias helped stake the TWolves out to a 14-6 run to begin the fourth. The first-year guard went off in the final 10, securing 12 of his eventual game-high 19 points. He did so shooting a perfect four-for-four from the field. Wesley Ainu’u chipped in with four points in the fourth as UNBC finished with 18 fourth quarter points. UBC though countered with 21 – with four apiece coming from Victor Radocaj, Toni Maric and Guzina.
When all was said and done, UBC had earned an 88-59 victory with Olsen (18), Guzina (15) and Radocaj (14) finishing in double figures. Five different Thunderbirds finished with six-or-more rebounds. For UNBC it was Bias who could lay claim to a game-high 19 points. Ainsley was next with 13 while Baukin grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Up next for UNBC – a home clash with the defending league champs from Victoria, Thursday night at 8:00 pm at Brownridge Court.