By Larry Read
TRU Sports Information Officer
KAMLOOPS, BC---The Alberta Golden Bears scored 56 points in the second half and rolled to a 107-81 decision over the home town Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in Canada West men's basketball action Friday at the Tournament Capital Centre.
The Bears went on a roll late in the third quarter and continued it into the fourth.
Alberta was up 51-43 at the half and had two players over 20 points led by Ivan Ikomey with 24. Brody Clarke added 20. Three other Golden Bears had double figures.
TRU had three players in double figures led by Enrico Nuno with 19.
The Pack saw their two game winning streak snapped as they fall to 4-5 on the year. Alberta moves to 6-3.
The Golden Bears got off to a hot start in the first quarter powered by Ivan Ikomey who had 12 points in the opening period including three baskets to start the contest. TRU though had more points 'in the paint' in the first stanza with a 6-4 advantage. Enrico Nuno had seven points for the Pack in the period.
The Pack cut the margin to as few as seven points in the second quarter but found themselves down by eight at the break. Nuno and Anton Bilous had seven and five points respectively for TRU. Alberta's offense in the second quarter was powered by Brody Clark who had 11 points.
The third quarter started up with the Pack starting to chip away at the Golden Bears. But Alberta took advantage of a breakdown by Thompson Rivers in the last three minutes of the period and the Bears were up handily 80-62 with one period left. Ikomey had six points in the third for Alberta.
The fourth quarter again saw the Pack down as few as four points before the Golden Bears marched away. Alberta played a number of their younger players as did the Pack down the stretch.
The WolfPack and Golden Bears will battle it out again on the Warner Rentals court tomorrow (Dec 1). It will be the last game for both teams before the Christmas break. Tip off will be 7 pm.
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 Vince Watson with Dylana Milobar providing interviews before, after the first and third quarters and half time.
The "TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack" Player of the game was Devin Halcrow. The second year forward from Norkam Secondary played seven minutes and had five points.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
THEY SAID IT! (post game quotes):
TRU Head Coach Scott Clark:
On the Contest: " I thought we hung in there. They were very aggressive and we didn't respond. When you give up over 100 points, it puts way too much pressure on your offense. We have to look at ourselves and do a better job containing the basketball. It starts there and if you can do that, you give yourself a chance."
Video of post game interview: click here
Alberta head coach Barnaby Craddock ( season):
On the victory: " Really happy. Thompson Rivers is a good basketball team. I know we will be in tough tomorrow. We had a few more injuries this evening . Hopefully they can play tomorrow. I was happy. We had to play well because they are a good team."