By Larry Read

TRU Sports Information Officer

KAMLOOPS, BC---The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's basketball team were outscored 37-24 in the second half and wound up dropping their Canada West home opener to the visiting University of Victoria Vikes.  The final score on the Warner Rentals court at the Tournament Capital Centre on Friday (Nov 9) was 73-65.

The WolfPack were led by TRU Bookstore/McDonalds "Leader of the Pack" Enrico Nuno (4^th year, forward, Half Moon Bay, CA) with 22 points.    Victoria's top scorer was Jordan Charles with 20 points.

The WolfPack fall to 1-2 on the year while Victoria ups their record to 2-3.

 SYNOPSIS

It was 41-36 for the 'Pack at the half led by Yonathan Michael (3^rd year, guard, Seattle, WA) and Anton Bilous (4^th year, guard, Chernassy, Ukraine) and their 10 points a piece.  Mason Loewen (5^th year, guard, Victoria, BC) had 10 points at the break for the Vikes.

The Vikes came out storming in the third quarter and outgunned the WolfPack 22-9.  Charles (5^th year, guard, Victoria, BC) leading the offense for Victoria with 14 points.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

(click here)

KEY STATS:

Thompson Rivers :

Enrico Nuno (4^th year, forward, Half Moon Bay, CA) 22 points 10 rebounds (8 def), 6 assists in 31 mins

Anton Bilous (4^th  year, guard, Cherkassy, Ukraine) 12 points,1 steal, 1 assist in 18 minutes

Yonathan Micheal (3^rd year, guard, Seattle, WA) 12 points, 5 rebounds (4 def), 1 assist in 25 mins

Joe Davis (4th year forward, Kamloops,BC) : 11 rebounds (7 def), 8 points in 35 mins

VICTORIA:

Jordan Charles: 20 points, 4 rebounds (3 def), 3 assists in 38 mins

T Montgomery-Stinson: 19 points, 6 rebounds (5 def), 1 block in 30 mins

Mason Loewen: 15 points, 7 rebounds (6 def), 8 assists, 1 block, 1 steal in 34 mins

Turnovers:

TRU 12   Victoria:  12
Score by Periods:

TRU                      22   19     9   15  --65

Victoria               20    16   22  15  --73

RECORD:

TRU:1-2   Victoria: 2-3

THEY SAID IT! (post game quotes):

TRU Head Coach Scott Clark:

On the Contest: " That is not the result we were looking for. The first half was OK but it could have gone better. Victoria imposed their will on the game. Full credit to them. They deserved to win. We need to do a much better job of imposing our will on the game and do what we have to do for us to be successful."

Video of post game interview: click here

TRU forward Enrico Nuno  (4^th year, forward, Half Moon Bay, CA):

On the home opener: "There is always some pre game nerves. You want to play good for the home fans. I thought we handled it well. We just needed to come away with a couple of more stops at the end. We will be ready tomorrow."

Video of post game interview:  click here

Victoria head coach Craig Beauchamp (16th  season):

what did he like about his team: "It was a real competitive game from start to finish. We dug ourselves a bit of a hole in the first half. I thought we got some good looks but couldn't get the shots. We had a real good start to the third quarter. That was the key. We were sitting on the edge. They scored the first five  or seven and we would be down by double digits. We got a good start and seemed to carry that momentum."

Video of post game interview:  click here

UP NEXT:

The  WolfPack  and Vikes will put their weekend series to bed tomorrow (Sat Nov 10) with a 7 pm tip off on the Warner Rentals Court.

All WolfPack games—home and away—are webcast on a pay per view basis on Canada West TV.  WolfPack home games are webcast by James Matthews and former WolfPack player Vince Watson with Dylana Milobar providing interviews before, after the first and third quarters and half time.