The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's basketball team will look to extend their unbeaten streak to five as they cap off a four game Canada West road trip this weekend.
The WolfPack will be on Vancouver Island to take on the University of Victoria Vikes on Friday and Saturday (Jan 24-25).
Thompson Rivers occupies fifth spot in the Canada West standings with an 11-3 record. They are 5-1 on the road and as mentioned, are unbeaten in their last five games overall.
They take on a Vikes team which has a more than respectable 10-4 record. That is good enough for a tie for sixth place in Canada west with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. UVIC is 5-2 at home and 3-2 in their last five
Friday's game (Jan 24) has a 8:00 PM start time. Saturday's contest (Jan 25) has a 7:00 PM tip off.
The Vikes feature former WolfPack guard Trent Monkman (Smithers, BC). The third year guard has played in 10 games averaging 8.3 minutes and 1.6 points per game.
HISTORY
UVIC has an 8-6 lead in the all-time regular season series with Thompson Rivers . Although the WolfPack have won four times at the CARSA Performance Gym and the previous facility at Victoria in comparison to two losses.
January 6-7, 2018 was the last time the two teams met on 'the Island'. Thompson Rivers won both those nights. The first night the score was 81-77 with
Joe Davis (5
th year, forward, Kamloops, BC) having 29 points. Micheal Rouault (5
th year, guard, Vernon, BC) had 11 and
Anton Bilous (5
th year, guard, Cerkassy, Ukraine) adding 10. The second night score was 86-82 TRU. Bilous had 23 points, Davis 14 and Rouault 10.
Last year when the teams played at the Tournament Capital Centre, the Vikes took the opener 73-65. Jordan Charles had 20 points for Victoira while the WolfPack, who led 41-36 at the half but were outscored 22-9 in the third period by the Vikes, had 22 points from
Enrico Nuno.
The WolfPack won the following night (Nov 10, 2018) by a score of 80-70. The Pack got 24 points from Davis. Bilous added 18. TRU led at the half 31-28. Victoria was led by Mason Loewen with 26 points. Jordan Charles had 21.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Thompson Rivers:
Joe Davis :TRU's all time leading scorer is leading the WolfPack offense with 17.1 points per game in 29.5 minutes. He is second on the Pakc in rebounds (6.6 per game) and leads the team in assists (3.3 per game).
Micheal Rouault leads TRU in rebounds with 9.4 boards per game in 29.7 minutes of court time. That number of rebounds per game is fifth best in Canada West. Rouault is third in team scoring averaging 13.6 per game.
Anton Bilous : sits second in team scoring averaging 17 points in 30.1 minutes.
Kyrin Cybenko (5
th year, forward, Saskatoon, SK): since returning from missing almost the entire first half of the year with an injury, he has moved into third place in rebounds averaging 5.2 in 12.2 minutes of work.
Victoria:
Jason Scully (4
th year, guard, Victoria, BC): is fifth in Canada West in three point percent (42.9). He is third in minutes played per game (27.6)
Matthew Ellis (4
th year, forward, Calgary, AB): is fifth in Canada West in field goal percent (59.9). He leads the Vikes in scoring averaging 15.1 points per game in 20.5 minutes He is second in rebounds 6.2 per game and is tied for the lead in blocks (0.9).
Dominick Oliveri (3
rd year, forward, Spokane, WA): is second on the Vikes in scoring (11.5) in 28.1 minutes of court time and leads the team in rebounds (14.4) and is tied for the lead in blocks (0.9)
Diego Maffia (1
st year, guard, Victoria, BC): stands third on the Vikes in scoring (11.4) in 21.4 minutes.
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK COACH SCOTT CLARK (10TH SEASON):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220145047812767745
The final home regular season weekend for Thompson Rivers will come up January 31-February 1
st at the Tournament Capital Centre as they will entertain the University of Fraser Valley Cascades. Friday night (Jan 31) will be "Donors Night" while the Saturday night contest (Feb 1) will see the team honor fifth year players Micheal Rouault (Vernon, BC),
Joe Davis (Kamloops, BC),
Anton Bilous (Cerkassy, Ukraine) and
Kyrin Cybenko (Saskatoon, SK). The weekend is also being deemed "Alumni Weekend" where former players from the Cariboo College Chiefs, University College of the Cariboo Sun Demons and the WolfPack will be recognized.
All of the above games will be webcast on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op by accessing:
https://cw.yaretv.com/.
