Heat look to get back to winning ways this weekend in Prince George

The UBC Okanagan men’s basketball team play on Friday night at 8 p.m. and on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the UNBC Timberwolves in two key road games.

UBC OKANAGAN HEAT (9-10, 5-7 Canada West)
CIS National Ranking: //
CanWest Standings: Tied-3rd – Explorer
Last week: 0-2 // (Fri L, 79-63), (Sat L, 79-57) at MRU
Streak: Lost 2
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 3-17
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: /
2014-15 Overall Record: 4-26
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: NA
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: NA

• SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• STATS
• STANDINGS

KELOWNA BC: The UBC Okanagan men’s basketball team finished their first weekend on the road since the winter break with two tough losses to the Mount Royal Cougars. This puts the Kelowna squads record at (5-7) and puts them a three way tie with the Cougars and the MacEwan Griffins for the third and final playoff spot in the Explorer division.  The Heat will be looking to boost their record this weekend against the UNBC Timberwolves to advance them into the final playoff spot. The first game of the weekend series will take place on Friday (Jan. 22) with tip off scheduled for 8 p.m. The second game will follow on Saturday (Jan. 23) with a start time of 7 p.m.

Key Players: Senior, Mitch Goodwin led the team in the weekend series against the Cougars, Goodwin combined for 26 points. Second year Cam Servatius is contributing to the team and finished the weekend with a combined 18 points. Another sophomore, Dean Johnston is also following suit, Johnston finished Friday nights game with 12 points. The six foot eight post is also effectively shooting the ball for the Heat this season, he is second in Canada West at 57-percent (49-86) from the field.

Keys: The Heat will be looking to improve their shooting as their average took a dip in the weekend series against MRU. For the season the Heat now shoot 39.3 percent from the field nearly equal to UNBC’s 39.7 percent. The key to this game will be the home/road split for these two teams, UBCO really struggle on the road shooting 37.4% from the field and 29.3% from the three away from UBC Okanagan. UNBC shoot a blistering 39.5% from three at the Charles Jago Centre and 43.6% from the field.

Head to Head: The Timberwolves lead 7-3 against UBC Okanagan in Canada West. The Heat were able to split the weekend series at home in November against the Timberwolves.

The last game against the Timberwolves (Nov. 14, 2015) was a (78-57) win for the Kelowna squad. Heading to Prince George the Heat will have to be focused as all of their Canada West games played in Charles Jago Sporting Centre have been losses (0-4).

UNBC TIMBERWOLVES (/-/, 3-9  Canada West)            
CIS National Ranking: //
CanWest Standings: T3 – Explorer
Last week: /0-2 / (Fri L, 63-56), (Sat L, 62-47) at UFV
Streak: Lost 5
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 12-8
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: 0-2 (swept by UBC)
2014-15 Overall Record: 12-10
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: none
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: none

• SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• STATS
• STANDINGS

UNBC Timberwolves: The Timberwolves have not had a good start to their second half of their season, with four consecutive losses to MacEwan at home and at UFV. These four losses have put UNBC’s record at 3-9 and they are sixth in the Explorer division.

Key Players: Forward Rhys Elliot is leading the team with an average of 20.0 points per game. Elliot has accumulated a total of 240 points so far this season and is third in the conference for scoring. Elliot is shooting 48.3 percent from the field putting and has made 24 threes in the teams 10 games. He is shooting 38.7-percent from beyond the arc but made 13 of his threes in the teams first two games, two losses to TRU at home at the beginning of November. Colin Plumb, a member of the Heat in 2009/10, is the teams leading rebounder at 6.5 a game, he is also scoring 9.6 points a contest.  Elliott is second on the team averaging 5.2 a game.

preseason preview courtesy of Canadawest.org

Number of new players: 5 / Key Recruits (Name (POS/Hometown/Last Team):  Austin Chandler (F/Wenatchee, Wash./Wenatchee Valley College); Anthony Hokanson (G/Vancouver, B.C./Kitsilano Secondary); Haydn Molcak (F/Prince George, B.C.); Saje Gosal (Golden, B.C./Golden Secondary); Neal Randhawa (Golden, B.C./Golden Secondary)

Number of departing players: 4 / Key Losses (Name (POS/number of years with team):  / Franco Kouagnia (F, 2 years); Devin McMurtry (F, 2 years); Jeff Chu (G, 2 years – now a Graduate Assistant with UNBC) 

Key performer: Rhys Elliott, Shooting Guard – Rhys will be looked upon to be the catalyst for the Timberwolves offence.  The Australian Import was one of the most efficient guards in Canada West last season and will be looked upon to take an increased leadership and scoring role for UNBC this season.

Coach Quote: “This season will be about our program looking to take another step forward.  Last year we saw a lot of growth from our guys in their understanding about how to compete in Canada West.  With the losses of three key seniors from last year, we will be looking for some guys to step up and continue to push the bar upward.  We are excited for the challenge of pursuing another playoff appearance.  It is our hope that come March we are playing at a level that can challenge the top teams in the conference.” – UNBC head coach Todd Jordan

Key storyline:  The men’s basketball Timberwolves will look to continue building on last season, when they earned the school’s first Canada West playoff berth in any sport since joining the conference in 2012 before getting swept by the UBC Thunderbirds.

UNBC’s depth will be tested this season, as the Timberwolves have had to remodel their front court following the graduation of Canada West all-star Franco Kouagnia and veteran Devin McMurtry. In their place, former Wenatchee Valley Knight Austin Chandler will try to fill the void, along with Greek import Vaggelis Loukas.

Following the graduation of Jeff Chu, fifth-year guard Billy Cheng should figure in as a key piece in any UNBC success, as will fellow senior Colin Plumb.

The Timberwolves will field a young squad this season, though players like Anthony Hokanson and Haydn Molcak could push for more minutes as the season progresses.