Basketball Timberwolves kick off exhibition play

Athletics
October 5, 2015

The UNBC men's and women's basketball Timberwolves kicked off their exhibition schedules last weekend, with mixed results.

Men's Basketball

Rhys-MUNThe men's basketball Timberwolves, coming off the school's first Canada West playoff berth, opened its preseason schedule in Vancouver as part of the UBC Invitational featuring teams from across Canada, though they did come in with some injuries.

In their opening match on Friday, the Timberwolves dropped an 85-71 decision to the Memorial University (Nfld.) Sea-Hawks of the AUS, a game where the Timberwolves were outrebounded 48-38. Rhys Elliott paced the UNBC offence with 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while rookie Anthony Hokanson posted 14 points and nine rebounds coming off the bench for the Timberwolves.

UNBC rebounded on Saturday, taking out the Guelph Gryphons 101-80. Elliott again led the charge offensively with 23 points and six rebounds, while Billy Cheng posted 20 points and nine assists, and Vaggelis Loukas added 14 points and nine boards. In total, five Timberwolves reached double-digit points in the victory, and they doubled the Gryphons on the glass, posting 40 rebounds to Guelph's 20.

Their biggest test came Sunday against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, who reached the CIS gold-medal game last season. Though UNBC kept it close in the first half, the Gee-Gees ran away with the second half en route to a 105-72 victory. Elliott was again UNBC's leading scorer with 23 points and six rebounds, while Cheng contributed 15 points and four assists, and Colin Plumb added 14 points and six boards.

Women's Basketball

Pudlas-UVicThe women's basketball Timberwolves opened their exhibition slate in Langley against the Trinity Western University Spartans. It was a tight game against a physical Spartans squad, though great performances from Vasiliki Louka, Kylie Pozniak, and Hannah Pudlas weren't enough to keep Trinity Western from a 68-60 victory. No statistics were made available from this game.

From there, it was off to Victoria to play the University of Victoria Vikes on Saturday. Though it was another closely contested match, the Timberwolves fell 80-67 to the Vikes. Offensively, the Timberwolves were led by Maria Mongomo's 17 points and eight boards, while Louka posted a double-double at 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Pudlas contributed 10 points.

Both the men's and women's basketball Timberwolves are off to Red Deer, Alta., this weekend for another preseason tournament.

Contact Information

Geordie Carragher

Sports Information Officer

carragher@unbc.ca

(250) 960-6009

(778) 349-4977