The Heat were unable to finish out their season with a win, despite double-digit scoring performances from three players.
Saturday, February 20th, 2016
Warner Rentals Court, TCC, Kamloops, BC
FINAL 1 2 3 4 T UBC Okanagan (8-12) 25 11 23 20 79 Thompson Rivers (16-4) 23 17 30 18 88
KAMLOOPS, BC – The Heat fell to the conference champion Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s basketball team on Saturday night (Feb 20), 88-79.
With 79 points, it was the first time all season UBC Oknagan scored more than 70 and didn’t win the game. With the loss the Heat close out their Canada West season with an (8-20) record. The eight wins betters the previous single-season high by three wins (5-17 in 2012/13).
The WolfPack finished first in the Canada West Explorer Division, and ended the year on a two game winning streak, improving their record to (16-4).
Not only did TRU claim the Explorer Division championship but also won the President’s Cup. It is a yearly competition between the WolfPack and UBCO in every Canada West sport. The schools were tied with three wins, three losses, and a tie going into Saturday’s game. The TRU win gave the school the trophy—and a sweep in the men’s and women’s competitions for the second straight year. [More on the Cup]
The Wolfpack trailed the Heat 25-23 after the first quarter, but held a 40-36 advantage at half time. UBCO outscored TRU 20-18 in the final quarter.
For UBCO, Aldrich Berrios led the way with 17 points. Former Kelowna Owl teammates Buzz Truss and Mitch Goodwin chipped in with 16 apiece. Truss added six boards, and his 16 points was a season high. His career best was January 24, 2015 at Fraser Valley where he shot 7-13 for 18 points. Truss went 4-5 from the field and 8-12 from the charity stripe.
UBC Okanagan out-rebounded the bigger, older WolfPack squad 36-31. No Heat player had more than six rebounds.
TRU was led by Josh Wolfram (5th year, forward, Kamloops, BC). He had 25 points and six rebounds. Three other WolfPack players were in double figures. Volodymyr Iegorov (4th year, forward, Donetsk, Ukraine) had 19 points, Luke Morris (3rd year, forward, Mission, BC) added 17 and Gerard Gore (5th year, forward, St. John’s, Antiqua) contributed 14 points.
The WolfPack honored Wolfram, Gore, and Reese Pribilsky (5th year, guard, Victoria, BC) before the contest. The youthful UBC Okanagan squad had no fifth year players on the roster.
TRU will now have almost two weeks off to prepare for the winner of a Canada West play-in series between the Regina Cougars and the Winnipeg Wesmen. That quarter final series will be a best of three affair, and will be played entirely on the Warner Rentals Court at the Tournament Capital Centre starting Thursday, March 3rd . Tip off all three nights will be 7 pm.
~ with notes from Larry Read, TRU Sports Information Officer