The UNBC Thunderbirds rank well down the Canada West men’s basketball standings from the lofty position the UBC Thunderbirds currently hold.
Ranked second in the Pacific Division, UBC (8-3) widened the gap between themselves and the visiting UNBC Timberwolves, winning their fourth straight, an 88-59 triumph over the TWolves (1-9) Saturday in Vancouver.
But it sure wasn’t easy for the UBC, taking on a TWolves team that had just nine available players.
Just like thy did last season in the opening round of the playoffs, when UNBC eliminated the T-birds on their way to a Canada West bronze medal, the TWolves put up a tremendous fight and trailed by only three at the half.
But UBC went on a tear in the third quarter, outscoring the TWolves 27-4 to take control.
Adam Olsen led the UBC attack, scoring 18 points, and he also had six rebounds. UBC guard Nikola Guzina also reached double figures with 15 points and rookie Victor Radocaj had 14 points.
For UNBC, Isaiah Bias collected a career-high 19 points, shooting seven-for-12 from the field, and Chris Ainsley hit for 13 points.
A tough first quarter for UNBC saw UBC jump out to a convincing 27-12 lead. Nine of UBC’s first 20 points on the night came from Olsen, who hit back-to-back triples. The first quarter offense UNBC was spread out as Ainsley, Wesley Ainu’u, Milan Pasquale, Danilo Gonzalez, Ben White and Evgeny Baukin all found the scoresheet.
Given UNBC’s short bench and travel, they could have easily folded up shop early, but instead they answered with a second quarter effort that saw them outscore the T-Birds 25-13.
Bias and Baukin each notched seven points in the second, but had help from the likes of White and Ainsley. Ainsley and Baukin each finished the first half with eight points apiece, and Ainsley, who no doubt had friends and family in the stands, was especially efficient shooting three-of-four from the field. With time winding down in the quarter, Ainsley hit an especially difficult jumper in close, in traffic to pull UNBC within five. Baukin and Ainsley each had eight through 20, and Baukin led all players with 10 first-half rebounds.
Olsen tacked on two more for UBC in the second and led all scorers at half with 11 points, while Tobi Akinkunmi led the way with five second-quarter points.
Guzina and Olsen came out early in the third and delivered tough makes for UBC, pushing their lead back to seven early. The T-Birds rode that early momentum to a convincing 27-4 third quarter performance. All four of the points in the third for UNBC came from Ainsley, while UBC’s offense was spread around nicely with seven different players recording field goals.
Bias helped stake the TWolves out to a 14-6 run to begin the fourth. The first-year guard nailed securing 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, shooting a perfect four-for-four from the field in the final 10. Wesley Ainu’u chipped in with four points in the fourth as UNBC finished with 18 fourth quarter points. UBC though countered with 21 – with four apiece coming from Radocaj, Toni Maric and Guzina.
Five different Thunderbirds finished with six or more rebounds. For UNBC it was Bias who could lay claim to a game-high 19 points. Ainsley was next with13 while Baukin grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
UNBC held former TWolves Micah Jessie and Fareed Shittu to seven and two points respectively.
Te TWolves meet the defending-champion Victoria Vikes in their next game this Thursday (8 p.m.) at the Northern Sport Centre.
