Luke Morris taking a shot, Nov. 5, 2016.
Image Credit: Andrew Snucins
November 06, 2016 - 9:44 AM
KAMLOOPS - The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack came up with a better effort but in the end, the result was the same as they were swept on the opening weekend of the Canada West men’s basketball season. On Saturday (Nov 5), on the Warner Rentals Court at the Tournament Capital Centre, they fell 78-67 to the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
SYNOPSIS
TRU led 22-19 after the first quarter and were up by six at the half (39-33). UBC outscored the ‘Pack 45-28 over the last two quarters. UBC was led by Conor Morgan (4th year, forward, Victoria, BC) who had 22 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Jensen-Whyte (5th year, guard, Calgary, AB)had 17 points and 11 rebounds. TRU’s top offensive threat was Derek Rhodes (3rd year, guard, Antioch, California). He was named the “TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack player of the game’ with 20 points. Volodymyr Iegorov (5th year, forward, Donetsk, Ukraine) added 18 points).
KEY STATS:
Thompson Rivers
Derek Rhodes: 20 points, 2 rebounds (both defensive), 2-2 (FT-FTA), 1 assist, two steals, 6-12 (FG-FGA) 37 min
Volodymyr Iegorov: 18 points, 5 rebounds (all defensive), 5-6 (FT-FTA) 3 assists, 2 blocks 35 minutes
Jeff Tubbs: 10 points, 6 rebounds (all defensive), 3assists in 37 minutes
Mike Rouault: 7 points 9 rebounds (seven defensive), theee assists, two steals in 31 minutes
UBC :
Conor Morgan: 22 points, 8 rebounds (7 on defense), 3-4 (FT-FTA), 2 assists 1-2 (3 pt FG-FGA) 22 minutes
Jordan Jensen-Whyte 17 points 11 rebounds (6 on defense) 9-15 (FT-FTA) 4 assists, 2 steals 33 mins
Phil Jalalpoor: 11 points 5 rebounds (3 on defense) 1 steal 26 minutes
Will Ondrik: 9 points 5 rebounds (3 on defense) 1 steal 24 minutes.
RECORDS:
UBC 2-0 TRU 0-2
“I thought we were a bit tougher. A bit smarter and executed a bit better. I am proud of the guys,” TRU head coach Scott Clark says.
"They are at home and we knew they would come out tougher. It is always more difficult to play the second game regardless especially when you win by a lot. The other team is more motivated. I am sure they made some adjustments and had some motivational talks. We came out a little flat. They hit some great shots and we weren’t guarding like we were last night. We are a team that feeds off our defense. When we aren’t getting turnovers, not getting our assignments, not getting deflections that doesn’t feed our offense. When we play great defense we are very difficult to stop. The focus in the second half was let our defense feed our offense,” UBC assistant coach Spencer McKay says.
UP NEXT:
Next weekend (Nov 11-12) Thompson Rivers will head to Manitoba to take on the Bisons. It is the start of a four game roadswing for the ‘Pack which also sees them going to Alberta (Nov 18-19) to face the Golden Bears. UBC has a bye week. They return to action November 18-19 vs Manitoba in their ‘home opening’ weekend.
Next home action for Thompson Rivers doesn’t come up until Friday, November 25 th when they entertain their closest geographical rivals, the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016