The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack have seen their three game winning streak snapped in Canada West men's basketball play. Vova Pluzhnikov (4^th year, guard, Kharkiv, Ukraine) hit a three point jumper in the last minute to give the Univeristy of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves a 78-76 win over the WolfPack.  The game was played at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops on Friday (Nov 22).

The Timberwolves move to 4-3 on the year while the WolfPack fall to 5-2.

The teams were tied at 19 after the first quarter. The Pack l 40-39 at half time and were up by seven (62-55) at three quarters.
Pluzhnikov had a team leading 23 points for UNBC.  Tyrell Laing added 20 for the Timberwolves.

Thompson Rivers was led by Joe Davis (5^th year, forward, Kamloops, BC).  He was named "The Den Leader of the Pack" player of the game with 24 points and four rebounds.  Anton BIlous (5^th year, guard, Cerkassy, Ukraine) added 15 points. Tyus DeVfies (3^rd year, guard, Chilliwack, BC) had 12 points while Rojhae Colbert (3^rd year, forward, Phoenix, AZ) added 10 points.

 SYNOPSIS

There was a large contingent of UNBC fans on hand for this one—many of them friends and family of Spencer Ledoux (2^nd year, post, Kamloops, BC).  Ledoux was matched up against fellow Westsyde grad  Davis  in the first quarter.  Ledoux notched 4  points before being subbed.  Davis also had 4  points in that opening stanza which saw UNBC up by 7 at one point but the teams were tied at 19 at the buzzer. Ledoux wound up with 13 points in the ball game.

The second quarter saw the wolfPack jump out to an early two point lead and got a buzzer beater from Tyus Devries (3^rd year, guard, Chilliwack, BC) to lead 40-39 at the half. Devries had nine points in the first half as did Davis.   Tyrell Laing led the Timberwolves with 14 points while Pluzhnikov  had 12 points.

The WolfPack started to pull away in the third quarter leading 62-55. Micheal Rouault (5^th year,guard, Vernon, BC) had six points in the quarter for the WolfPack while Davis led the way in the quarter with nine.  UNBC's top gunner was Saje Gosal (5^th year, guard, Golden, BC) with five.  The Pack outrebounded the Timberwolves 11-9 in that period.

The teams got into a 'shootout' in the fourth.  Anthony Hokanson drained a three with 6:30 left to tie things up at 64.  Hokanson had 11 points in the second half.  The WolfPack responded with a three from DeVries and then Rouault went 'coast to coast' to extend their lead to five.

The Timberwolves and WolfPack duked it out in the fourth quarter. In the dying seconds, Pluznikov hit a three pointer from the right side of the court and drew a foul.  That gave UNBC a 77-76 lead.  As the seconds wound down, Thompson Rivers had possession with both DeVries missing on a three point attempt and Rouault hauling down a rebound not to be able to put it in as UNBC held on for the one point victory.
 
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
https://youtu.be/SbvsfKOQYfs



THEY SAID IT! (post game quotes):
TRU Head Coach Scott Clark:
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1198120069449912321 
 
WolfPack forward Joe Davis (5^th year, forward, Kamloops, BC:
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1198120069449912321 
 
Timberwolves head coach Todd Jordan  (10^th year):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1198120069449912321 
 
UP NEXT:
The  Timberwolves and WolfPack will close out their weekend series tomorrow (Sat Nov 23) at the Tournament Capital Centre. The two teams will play the 'late game' on Saturday and hit the court at 7 PM PDT.  It will be TRUSU Food Bank night again on Saturday.

The WolfPack will close out the pre-Christmas portion of their Canada West season next weekend (Nov 29-30) against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Both of those games will be at the Tournament Capital Centre.

All those games will be webcast on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op by accessing: https://cw.yaretv.com/.  
James Matthews will be handling the play by play with former WolfPack women's assistant coach Chuck Ferguson providing commentary.
Results will be available on the WolfPack social media platforms and their website  www.goWolfPack.ca.