10 sports January 4, 2012 - Over the Edge CHANGING OF THE GUARD Rybachuk leads T-Wolves to a much needed 97-64 victory over previously top ranked Camosun PUNEET HAYER SPORTS EDITOR A Gabe Aubertin made the most of some well earned playing time in a big win vs. Camosun. he UNBC men’s basketball [= got back on track this past Saturday night as they beat previously undefeated Camosun College (Victoria) 97-64 in front of 1,200 fans at the Northern Sport Cen- tre. Timberwolves head coach Todd Jordan knew he needed to make some changes after suffering consecutive losses for the first time in his tenure as men’s head coach. Additionally, he would be without the services of start- ing forward Dennis Stark and would later lose starting center Kevan Mad- sen, both to injuries. This was a must- win game for UNBC as they were quickly dropping in the PACWEST standings after a tough road loss to Capilano and the previous night’s loss to rival VIU. Therefore, the T-Wolves could not afford to lose 3 consecutive games to top ranked teams to stay in the hunt for an opportunity to com- pete for a Provincial title. Coach Jordan adjusted his lineup to replace starting shooting guard Jose Araujo with key reserve Joel Ry- bachuk. This “changing of the guard” was an effort by Jordan to stimulate Araujo’s production. Araujo served as the team’s 6th man during the T- Wolves national championship run of 2009. Araujo shot only 2/7 in the prior nights loss to VIU, and was shooting under 40% in the season. Rybachuk, meanwhile, has been a consistent per- former all season long and seemed to give the team a spark each time he took to the court. Furthermore, Ryba- chuk’s energy and instant production would be needed because of the afore- mentioned injuries. This tactic clearly worked as Araujo scored a season high 29 points, which encompassed a season high 56% field goal percent- age. This performance from Araujo showed flashes of the catalytic player that lead UNBC to a national title in 2009 and we all expected to see this season. However, what often gets lost about this victory was the stellar all-around play and difference of Joel Rybachuk. Rybachuk showed leadership, de- fense, toughness and consistency in this victory. The first quarter started off well for the Chargers who took an early lead. However, Rybachuk managed to keep the T-Wolves in the game and hit a key basket with 2:22 left in the quarter to give the T-Wolves the lead. Subsequently, Rybachuk courageously took a hard charge from Chargers 6’7” forward Trevor Scheurmann who was domin- ating in the first quarter, prior to that charge. Those successive plays from Rybachuk seemingly sparked UNBC and the game was another home rout by UNBC. The Timberwolves started the second quarter on a 22-4 run and took a 51-27 lead into halftime. UNBC forced 11 turnovers, 7 steals in that stretch and out rebounded the Char- gers 14-6 in the second quarter. These extra opportunities allowed Rybachuk to showcase his floor awareness and the T-Wolves strength in the tran- sition game. Rybachuk seemingly found Araujo for open jump shots for much of the game. Charles Barton made his second consecutive start, in place for the aforementioned injured PUNEET HAYER Dennis Stark and added a season high 16 points. Gabe Aubertin and Sam Raphael continued their strong play by each adding 9 points. This impressive performance from the T-Wolves was a statement that they are still a force in the PACWEST despite losing two games in the first half of the season. There are still a lot of questions about this team, who face a tough second half schedule and are concurrently battling injuries to many key starters. However, if there is one thing that we all can take from this game, it is that Joel Rybachuk and Jose Araujo will be in the middle of the T-Wolves fortunes this season. Furthermore, their reversal of roles may very well be a turning point this season, a season that was starting to wane before this switch.