Over the weekend, the Thunderbirds travelled to Prince George for a two-game series against the UNBC Timberwolves, dropping the first game 88–69, but walking away with a 85–73 win in the following matchup.
This road trip was a bit of a homecoming for two T-Birds. Micah Jessie and Fareed Shittu transferred to UBC over the summer, swapping their Timberwolves jerseys for the gold and blue.
“It’s been the talk of the practices throughout the week,” said Thunderbird captain and leading scorer, Brian Wallack, in an interview with The Ubyssey prior to the game. “They have a lot of friends and family that are back there … but obviously, we want to do really well.”
Unfortunately, the return was spoiled in the first game. Wallack did not play but the team still had a hot first quarter with their new-look, small-ball lineup. This frame saw the ‘Birds get out to a 17–7 run, going into the second up by 9.
Here, things quickly unravelled as the ‘Birds went ice cold offensively, allowing the ‘Wolves to tie it up at 28 with six minutes remaining. The game continued to click for UNBC, resulting in a 13–6 run to end the half.
Coming out of the break, the Timberwolves picked up where they left off, but momentum did eventually swing back in Thunderbird favour and they temporarily took the lead through a Jessie three-pointer with under five minutes to go. More back-and-fourth ball led to the ‘Birds entering the final frame down just 62–60.
The fourth quarter was very out of character for the Thunderbirds. They opened the scoring in the first minute with a three, but again, things quickly slipped away. A strong response from UNBC saw a ton of second chance points, while the ‘Birds couldn’t catch a break offensively. They only scored 8 points in the entire quarter while the ‘Wolves closed out and walked away with the 19-point win.
The second matchup saw a more determined UBC team. Some adjustments were made to the starting lineup, like bringing in 6’10” Victor Radocaj to fill in the gaps in the paint while rookie Arnaud Konan got the nod to hound the Timberwolves guards.
Sloppy play for both sides opened the game but both teams were able to settle in by the second quarter. Back-to-back buckets for Radocaj capitalized a 12–0 run to put the ‘Birds up 40–30, with four minutes to go in the half. The ‘Birds maintained the intensity, capping off the second quarter with two more makes from Radocaj, giving them a 13-point lead at halftime.
The ‘Birds came out swinging once again in the third, this time, through the hands of Tobi Akinkunmi, who connected on three threes before the five-minute mark. However, the ‘Wolves didn’t take lightly to that as they finished the quarter on a 14–6 run, entering the fourth trailing 69–63.
The fourth saw a couple of quick buckets from Brendan Sullivan to increase UBC’s lead back up to ten — though, UNBC kept up and cut it back down to three just a few minutes later.
UBC ramped up the pressure by clamping down defensively. A few successful offensive possessions later, the former ‘Wolves duo of Jessie and Shittu connected for an alley-oop layup to re-establish a ten-point lead. This lead held up for the T-Birds to close out and head home with the series split.
Top performers for Friday’s game were James Woods, putting up 19 points and 5 assists on efficient 7–11 shooting, and Jessie who netted 17 points of his own, along with 7 rebounds. The next matchup saw season highs for Radocaj and Shittu — Radocaj recorded 16 points and Shittu pulled down 14 rebounds.
The Thunderbirds will travel to Kelowna this weekend where they will take on the UBC Okanagan Heat for another two-game series.