Jason Hills, Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics
EDMONTON — Third-year point guard Tyrell Laing caught fire from long range and snapped the No.6 University of Alberta Golden Bears' more-than-two-month-long win streak.
Laing finished with a career-high 25 points that included a career-high seven three-pointers to help lead the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves to a big 81-70 upset victory, Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
Senior guard James Agyeman chipped in with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while fourth-year guard Ivan Ikomey led the Golden Bears with 14 points; fourth-year power forward Brody Clarke recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss snaps the Golden Bears nine-game win streak as they fall to 12-4 this season, while the Timberwolves improve to 8-8.
"Tyrell Laing was real good for them tonight. He gave them confidence to shoot the ball and they ran with it," said Golden Bears head coach Barnaby Craddock.
"They did a great job. They made things difficult on us, and we didn't have the confidence to knock shots down. We have to admit they were better than us tonight and try to learn from it."
UNBC went toe-to-toe with the Golden Bears in the first half and went to the locker room tied at 39-39, but in the third quarter, the Timberwolves put together a masterful quarter jumping out to a 62-52 lead after hitting six three-pointers in the quarter to put the Golden Bears in a deep hole.
"I'm real proud of the guys," said Timberwolves head coach Todd Jordan. "When you make threes, the three can be the X-factor in the game and making a bunch of those really helped us pull the momentum away."
Alberta is known for their smothering defence and despite their struggles shooting the ball in their two-game weekend series against UNBC, they clawed their way back into the game.
Ikomey hit a three to cut into the big deficit and would later drive through the lane and lay it in off the glass to cut UNBC's lead to 68-65, but a late corner three-pointer from Laing erased any chance of a Golden Bears big comeback.
"There was a stretch where we were really rattled," said Jordan. "We found a way to stay composed. You have to be tough and mentally tough down the stretch and the guys found a way to do that."
Alberta looked out of sync offensively in the loss to UNBC, but Craddock gave full marks to the effort that UNBC put forward in the victory.
"We showed some character and fight to get back in the game," said Craddock, "but we struggled tonight and they just outplayed us."
The Golden Bears will look to get back on track when they head to Saskatoon next weekend to take on the Huskies, while UNBC travels to Vancouver to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.