Goodwin’s season high of 25 enables the UBC Okanagan men’s basketball team to sweep away UNBC after a 78-64 win on Saturday night.
Saturday, January 23rd, 2016
Charles Jago Sporting Centre, Prince George, BC
FINAL 1 2 3 4 T UBC Okanagan (7-7) 20 13 20 25 78 UNBC (3-11) 20 20 7 17 64
PRINCE GEORGE, BC – The UBC Okanagan men’s basketball team took the weekend series against the UNBC Timberwolves in Prince George with a (78-64) win this Saturday night.
This win is the Heat’s third win against UNBC this season, sweeping this weekend series after splitting in Kelowna in November. The win even outs the Heat’s record and gives the Kelowna squad a record of (7-7), putting them in sole possession of third in the Explorer division, where the top three teams make the playoffs.
The Heat were led by Mitch Goodwin who scored a season high 25 points. Goodwin went (10-14) 71 percent from the field and nearly perfect from the three point line (3-4, 75%).
For the sixth time this season Aldrich Berrios netted more than 20 points, he finished second to Goodwin on Saturday night with 23 points and seven assists, four rebounds and was perfect finishing 7-7 from the free throw line.
Austin Penrose added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench as the second year post was effective in the paint for the Heat, Penrose went 5-7 on the night. UBC Okanagan as a team shot a season best 52.7 per cent from the field and 50 per cent (9-18) from three-point range. UBCO made over half of their threes in Prince George finishing making 19 of their 37 attempts (51.4%).
Elliot Rowe paced the Timberwolves (3-11) with 17 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Vaggelis Loukas chipped in with 10 points and three rebounds off the bench.
Rhys Elliott pitched in with nine points, six rebounds, and four assists for the Timberwolves, who were outscored 22-14 in the paint.
The first quarter saw the teams battle back and forth, with neither team allowing the other to get ahead by any more than one possession.a bye
Rowe was hot to start the game with a seven-point quarter, but a Goodwin three-pointer with a minute to go tied the game at 20-20 through 10 minutes.
The second quarter opened in much the same way before the Timberwolves got going, with Marcus MacKay hitting a big three-pointer following a missed dunk from Spencer Thomas to give UNBC a 36-26 advantage, trimmed to 40-33 by halftime.
Down at halftime, the UBC Okanagan Heat got hot when it mattered.
The Heat answered by starting the second half with a 9-0 run to take a 42-40 lead midway through the third quarter.
From there, the rest of the frame went back and forth, though the Heat had a quick spurt in the final minute to open up a 53-47 edge, punctuated by a Buzz Truss jumper to beat the buzzer.
UBC Okanagan pulled away in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves got themselves into foul trouble, keeping a double-digit lead through the end.
The Heat were able to effectively shoot the ball in tonight’s match up compared to UNBC’s (22-48) 45.8 percent, and (11-26) 42.3 percent from three with the loss the T’Wolves are now (3-11) and in sixth place in the division.
The Heat’s ability to capture boards also contributed to their success as they claimed 27 rebounds compared to the Timberwolves 25.
Canada West play for UBC Okanagan resumes on Friday, February 5 as the Kelowna squad host the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, tip off is at 8 p.m.
~ Tia Sadler, Heat athletics // with notes from Geordie Carragher, UNBC Sports Information