Peter James, UNBC Communications
PRINCE GEORGE - The University of Alberta Golden Bears hit from long distance early and often Saturday night in a 110-56 win over the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre.
Wearing their gold uniforms, the Golden Bears channeled the similarly named and clad Golden State Warriors hitting six three pointers in the first quarter alone and 12 in the game. Nine different players hit from beyond the arc and Alberta shot 57 per cent from long distance as a team.
"We had a bunch of different people step up on the same night," said Alberta head coach Barnaby Craddock. "We had a bunch of guys step up at once and I think we're pretty competitive when that occurs."
With the win the Golden Bears sweep the weekend set and improve to 4-0 on the year, while the Timberwolves fall to 0-4 in Canada West action.
The Golden Bears led by 19 at the half, but blew the game open in the third quarter when they went on a 26-0 run and outscored the hosts 36-7.
Mamadou Gueye had a game-high 23 points and a game-high nine rebounds in 21 minutes of action for the Golden Bears. Dwan Williams added 16 points and Austin Waddoups had seven assists.
Austin Chandler led the Timberwolves with 11 points, followed closely by Marcus MacKay with 10.
"I hope the guys are looking in the mirror right now," UNBC coach Todd Jordan said. "I find these types of games do happen, over my career it seems like once a year or once every couple of years where there's a game were nothing goes right."
The blowout win came a night after the Golden Bears edged the Timberwolves 78-69.
"To come back today and put out that performance was disheartening," said Jordan. "The important thing that these guys take out of this is that they don't let this define their season."
The Timberwolves kept pace with the Golden Bears early, even leading by three points midway through the first quarter. But the visitors pulled away in the latter stages of the period, building a 28-19 lead after 10 minutes.
The Golden Bears extended their lead to 47-29 at the half, with Gueye scoring 19 of those points for the visitors including an emphatic dunk which helped set the tone for the half.
Alberta shot 63 pet cent from the floor in the first half – 73 per cent from beyond the arc – while the Timberwolves connected on just 33 per cent of their shots in the half.
The Timberwolves are home to Trinity Western next weekend with games on Friday (8 p.m. PT) and Saturday (7 p.m. PT).
The Pandas are back home in Edmonton for games against Thompson Rivers on Friday (8 p.m. MT) and Saturday (7 p.m. MT).