KELOWNA, BC - The UBC Okanagan men's basketball team were unable to capture their first win of their weekend series and season against the UNBC Timberwolves falling 64-48 on Friday night.
The offense dried up at UBC Okanagan in the third quarter as the Heat only managed to score four points in the frame. This blip in scoring allowed the Timberwolves to go on a 15-4 run and right after the break. UNBC's pair of veteran guards Billy Cheng and Rhys Elliott found their scoring rhythm which boosted UNBC into the lead, which they would hold until the final buzzer.
For the Heat only Mitch Goodwin was able to score in double digits with 11 points. Randall Mosca followed with seven points and Cameron Servatius with six.
UNBC success came from the distribution of scoring across the score sheet. Four UNBC players scored in double digits. Elliot led his team with 15 points along with Cheng with 14 points and five assists. Newcomer Austin Chandler assisted the senior players with 12 points, and off the bench Vaggelis Loukas produced 10 points. Returning to UBC Okanagan Colin Plumb also hauled in eight rebounds for his team.
UBC Okanagan's defense kept them in the game in the first half. Billy Cheng and Rhys Elliot were nearly unstoppable last Saturday for the Timberwolves, the duo scored a combined 61 of their 89 team's points in their loss to Thomson Rivers. Cheng was held to just two points and Elliot nine in the first 20 minutes. Unfortunately for UBC Okanagan their offense was also sputtering and the two teams hit the halfway point knotted at 30.
Their ability to score quickly looked promising for the Heat in the first quarter, backcourt duo of Mosca and Goodwin combined for nine of their team's 13 points. However the Heat were unable to ever gain a lead from the Timberwolves giving UNBC and 18-13 advantage over the Kelowna squad.
Once again a huge contributor for the Heat's roster was first year Spencer Thomas. Coming off the bench Spencer Thomas earned himself 27 minutes and was an instrumental part in keeping Cheng and Elliot's scoring opportunities low. Along with his tenacious defense, Thomas had five points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a block proving that his defensive and offensive success are instrumental to the Heat's young roster.
UNBC finished the game with a 45% from the field (21-47) compared to the Heat's 39% (21-54). UNBC was also able to shoot consistently from the three point line giving them 31% (5-16), these key points from the three allowed the Timberwolves to take the lead from the Heat who only scored 1- 15 from the three point line ( 7%).
The Timberwolves also took advantage of scoring off of turnovers capturing 22 points off of steals compared to the Heats six points off of turnovers. The battle on the glass went the way of the home team. UBCO outrebounded the T-wolves (31-26).
With the win, their first of the year, the Timberwolves improve to (1-2). The Heat fall to 0-3 in their regular season and will be looking for redemption against UNBC as their weekend series continues tomorrow at the UBC Okanagan gymnasium. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
~ Tia Sadler // Heat Communications