LANGLEY, B.C. – Despite a tie game early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans men's basketball team fell 100-87 to the UNBC Timberwolves in their home-opener at the Langley Events Centre.
The loss drops the Spartans record to 0-3 on the season, while the win pushes UNBC's record to 2-1.
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) drove the Spartans offence with 21 points, 7 rebounds and five steals.
Gabe Mannes (Chilliwack, B.C.) added 16 points and five steals in the loss.
Timberwolves guard Vova Pluzhnikov had a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds in the win.
UNBC came out hot with a 22-10 lead, but the Spartans rallied to finish the quarter on an 14-2 run to close out the first quarter tied at 24.
The Spartans continued their momentum into the second quarter, going on a 9-1 run to open the quarter and capping it off by holding a 47-45 lead at half-time.
In the third quarter the Timberwolves jumped in front to a 54-51 lead, but five points in the quarter from
Adam Gehrig (Toowoomba, Australia) and Gilbreath helped TWU tie it up at 70 heading into the final quarter.
In the final quarter the Timberwolves gained momentum and pulled ahead early by 12 points. The Spartans moved to within seven points late but failed to regain the lead as they lost 100-87.
The Spartans held a 12-8 advantage in 3-pointers made, while the Timberwolves held a 48-36 advantage in rebounds.
TWU also finished the night hitting 41.7% from the field (35-84) while UNBC hit 53.2% (33-62).
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie – TWU Head Coach
"Our ball screen defence wasn't great. We kind of had to pick our poison with both Vova and Tyrell in how to defend them. They're both really good players and really good on the ball screen. We need to work on defensive rotations and ball screen coverages tomorrow and work on our zone offence. I feel like we're close. We had a poor start and a poor second half hurt us again. We didn't end the second quarter well and we didn't start the third quarter well. That's kind of been our story this year. We're still trying to figure out the right rotations and figure out who works well together. We need to tighten things up at both ends but I don't think we're too far off. We've been competitive in almost every quarter we've played this year, but we've just had a couple tough stretches.
"I thought Gabe and Q have been pretty good every game. It was
Andrew Goertzen' s(Langley) first game in a little while and I thought he did some really good things. I thought
Daniel Stead (Langley) played the best game I've seen him play. He was confident and guarded well and hit some big shots. I thought we had a few guys step up but we need to do it as a team."
NOTABLE
- Friday's game was the first regular season home game for the Spartans under new head coach Trevor Pridie, who took over as the team's bench boss after a successful season as an assistant coach with Raptors 905.
- TWU has now lost their last seven games against UNBC, with their last win coming at home on Nov. 16, 2013 (W 92-73).
- The Timberwolves finished 11th in Canada West last season with a 9-11 record.
NEXT UP
The Spartans will take on UNBC again on Saturday (7 p.m.) at the Langley Events Centre.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
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