VANCOUVER - UNBC men's basketball team dropped their first game to UBC Thunderbirds in the Canada West quarter final series at War Memorial Gym on Thursday night. The Timberwolves finished a close contest 83-77 in favour of the Thunderbirds.

Tommy Nixon was a stand-out player for the Thunderbirds with 23 points and 10 rebounds. The Canada West first team all-star was helped by Tonner Jackson and Jordan Jensen-Whyte who added 16 and 14 points respectively.

The Timberwolves were led by third year guard Rhys Elliott. Elliott put up 21 points for UNBC while Prince George native Nolan Hanson added 13of his own off the bench.

The Timberwolves came prepared to play and challenged the Thunderbirds right out of the gate. Rhys Elliott (Adelaide, AUS) was key in the first half for the visitors, the third year guard netted 16 points in the first half alone. Elliott used his speed to slice through the defence and get to the basket creating havoc. With neither team gaining a foot hold in the first 10 minutes the Timberwolves were able to stay on top 22-21 heading into the second quarter.

The Thunderbirds kept the Twolves at bay in the second quarter. Andrew McGuiness came on and drained two from behind the arc giving the Thunderbirds the edge they needed to pull ahead. Elliott was the glimmer of light for UNBC, taking it to the hole and keeping the game close. At the end of the half the Timberwolves trailed by eight, 45-38.

The third quarter saw the Thunderbirds break away. A technical foul against the Timberwolves mid-way through the third opened the door for the Thunderbirds who went on a 6-0 run, including a huge block by Jordan Jensen-Whyte which transitioned to a dunk from Conor Morgan. Even with the Thunderbirds advantage the Twolves kept battling and were able to bring the game back to 11 points.

To start off the final 10 minutes Hanson drained a long three to put the Timberwolves back within single digits of the T-Birds who then went on a run to pull ahead to their largest lead of the game at 19 points. The lead did not last long, the Timberwolves pushed back and finished out the final five minutes of the game on a 17-4 streak. Marcus MacKay drained two back-to-back threes in the last two minutes but t wasn't enough to pull ahead. At the final whistle the Timberwolves fell 83-77 to the Thunderbirds.

With the series at 1-0 in favour of the UBC Thunderbirds both teams return to War Memorial Gym again tomorrow night for the second game of the best of three series. If the UNBC Timberwolves win Friday night the series will go to a third and final game Saturday evening at 7 p.m. All games can be viewed live at canadawest.tv