The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's basketball team will begin the second half of their 2018-19Canada West regular season on the road this weekend.
The Pack find themselves in Prince George, BC and the Northern Sports Centre facing the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves.
The teams will play Friday and Saturday (Jan 4-5).
The Timberwolves have a 6-4 record to begin the second half of the year. Thompson Rivers is at 4-6.
The WolfPack have lost their last two games before the Christmas break while UNBC won their last game. TRU is coming off a split of holiday exhibition games in Phoenix, Arizona against NAIA teams.
Game Information:
Date: Fri Jan 4/ Sat Jan 5 Time: 8 pm'7 pm PDT
Location: Northern Sports Centre, Prince George, BC
TRU Record: 4-6 (10th in league) record on the road: 1-3
UNBC Record: 6-4 (8 th in league) record at home: 3-1
Important Game Notes:
The Timberwolves have a veteran team with a number of fourth and fifth year players while the WolfPack have one fifth year in Derek Morris.
This is the start of a four game road trip for Thompson Rivers as they will spend next weekend (Jan 11-12) in Winnipeg taking on the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. UNBC is kicking off a four game home stand.
Thoughts from WolfPack head coach Scott Clark:
1. Thoughts on the second half of the season? "You are down to 10 games left in the season. It is more of a sprint. You have done all the work in the preseason for the most part. Now, you are just trying to manage fatique and travel while trying to keep your guys sharp and ready for the upcoming weekend. The second half of the year goes by in a blink of an eye. From that perspective, you are trying to get a little bit better but the growth is minute because you have done the bulk of the work already."
2. It was basically 'scoring by committee' for the WolfPack in the first half. Are you expecting more of the same? "I think so. I think we have pretty good balance. On any given night, there are five or six guys who could step up and lead us in scoring. That is a positive. We just have to continue to try and get better defensively. Our margins for error aren't huge. That bit about staying sharp is especially important."
3. UNBC on paper seems to be a program on the upswing. How do you look at them? "Todd does a really good job up there. They have a veteran club this year. They have four or five guys who are fourth or fifth year. From that perspective, they are tough. They have been around the block and know what it takes to win a basketball game. They are organized. Todd has done a great job recruiting to Prince George. They have been full value every time they step on the floor. They beat Saskatchewan in the first half—Sask is a top 10 nationally ranked team. They have beaten a lot of good basketball teams in the first half of the year. Going up there, it is going to be tough. I think if you are any type of competitor I think that is a situation you would like to be in."
Players to Watch:
TRU:
Derek Rhodes (5th year, forward, Anotich, California): started all 10 of the teams games . He is averaging 14.3 points per game in 32 minutes on the floor.
Joe Davis (4th year, forward, Kamloops, BC): He started in the 10 first half games, averaging 29.5 minutes, 12.6 points and 6.1 rebounds.
Anton Bilous (4th year, forward, Cherkassy, Ukraine): has started 9 of the teams 10 first half games, averaging 12.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 26.4 minutes.
UNBC:
Jovan Leamy (5th year, guard, Toronto, ON): started all 10 league games. He is fourth in Canada West in points per game (19.8). He averages six rebounds per game and 30.5 minutes on the floor.
Vaggelis Louka (5th year, forward, Athens, Greece):second in the Canada West in rebounds per game (9.4). Averaging 7.5 points per game. He is fourth in Canada West in field goal per cent (58.5).
Spencer Ledoux (1st year, forward, Kamloops, BC): The freshman from Westsyde Secondary has dressed for seven league games averaging 2.1 points and 74 minutes on the floor.
If you can't make the game/match: watch online (pay per view) at www.canadawesttv.ca
Home game/match highlights will be available by logging onto www.gowolfpack.tru.ca
