14 sports December 1, 2010 + Over the Edge Mens T-Wolves Win First Home Game but Come Out Flat UNBC suffers first loss of season versus VIU BROCK CAMPBELL SPORTS EDITOR The men’s basketball team began their first home-stand of the season celebrating last year’s national championship with a ring ceremony and the unveiling of the 2010 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association banner. Prior to their matchup Friday night with league rival, Vancouver Island University Mariners, both UNBC basketball teams were introduced to the home crowd. Members of the men’s championship squad were awarded their rings and captains Inderbir Gill and Dennis Stark uncovered the CCAA 2010 banner. The men capped off the night’s party with a nerve racking win, beating VIU 91-89 in front of a capacity crowd. However, the celebration was short lived as the T-Wolves fell to the Mariners the following night 81-77. On Friday, out of the gates both teams looked cold. UNBC missed a number of uncontested outside jumpers and VIU, which would have loved nothing more than to silence the home crowd, was unable to capitalize on easy inside chances. Down three halfway through the first, the T-Wolves stepped up their defensive pressure and scored some easy hoops off of turnovers. UNBC put up eight unanswered, going ahead 19-11 as the first-quarter ended. The Mariners responded in the second- half eventually taking the lead 29-28 on a three-point play by point-guard Jacob Thom. Nonetheless, UNBC regained its lead as the half ended with a score of 35-33. It was a different story in the second-half as the T-Wolves came out on fire torching the Mariners for thirty-five points in the third quarter. Jesse Smith, UNBC’s smooth shooting big-man, knocked down two treys in a row. Matt Mills and Gill stroked two of their own, and Robert Rodriguez buried another to give the T-Wolves seven three’s in the quarter. “At half-time Coach (Todd Jordan) just told us to have fun,” said Rodriguez about the team’s turnaround in the second half, “he told us to push the ball and create chances. We did that and it worked.” But what was more important for UNBC was the defense of Smith who shutdown Andrew Kaban, the league’s leading scorer, holding him to four points in the third quarter. BROCK CAMPBELL UNBC faithful show off their love for T-Wolves and retro style UNBC looked to have it in the bag as they took a thirteen point lead, up 70-57, into the fourth, and led by as much as sixteen at one point. However, no lead is safe with a weapon like Kaban on the floor. The Mariner’s forward poured in fourteen in the final quarter as VIU rallied late. Down by thirteen, VIU went on a 10-0 run that cut UNBC’s lead to three, before Gill calmly buried two free throws with under a minute to go. The Mariners got to within two but were forced to foul, putting Francis Rowe on the line with one second left. Rowe missed the front-end of the one and one but recovered his own rebound as regulation ended with the T-Wolves in front 91- 89. The T-Wolves had six players in double figures including twenty-one from Gill and sixteen from Smith. For the Mariners, Kaban had twenty-six but no real help from his teammates. Son Saturday night the T-Wolves didn’t show up until the second quarter and by then it was too late. Rodriguez bluntly stated, “We just came out flat and they (VIU) were hungrier than us. That's it.” # UNBC let the Mariners get an early 9-0 lead that the T- Wolves struggled to overcome all game. Gill, often a solid ball-handler, uncharacteristically turned the rock over, and the T-Wolves allowed too many second chance points off of offensive rebounds. Not to mention Kaban got off to a quick start scoring eleven of his twenty-one in the first. The , Mariner’s took the home crowd right out of it with a 23-8 lead after one quarter. The T-Wolves valiantly scrapped their way back and managed to outscore VIU for the remainder of the game, however, the deficit from the first quarter was too much and UNBC never really found their shooting touch. For a team that relies heavily on three-pointers, six for twenty-six from behind the arc isn’t going to cut it. Hands down the best player for the T-wolves was Sebastien- Kevin Louis who stepped up offensively and poured in twenty-five. But the balanced scoring usually expected from UNBC just wasn’t there. Gill had sixteen and Smith fourteen, but there was no other scorer over five points. Rodriguez discussed how UNBC will recover from the loss. He declared, “We just got to learn from our mistakes and come out on fire next weekend. We will never come out flat again.” With the loss the T-Wolves drop to third in league standings with a 5-1 record. The next test for UNBC will be University of British Columbia Okanagan at home on November 27th. Indoor Ultimate Frisbee Coming to Northern Sports Center! PG enthusiasts announce indoor ultimate frisbee league BROCK CAMPBELL SPORTS EDITOR Prince George Disc Sports, a non-profit organization with a mission of playing and promoting disc sports in Prince George, will be hosting a Recreational Winter Ultimate League at the UNBC Northern Sports Centre. Ultimate (also known as Ultimate Frisbee) is a co-ed, non-contact, self-officiated team sport where fun and sportsmanship are encouraged alongside competitive play. Ultimate is played by passing a flying disc (Frisbee), down a rectangular field to score a point in an opponent's end zone. Ultimate combines the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, and the fast break transitions of basketball. One of the world’s fastest growing sports, Ultimate is played in over 42 countries by hundreds of thousands of men, women, boys and girls. All that is needed to play Ultimate is a positive attitude and a wilingess to have fun as the rules are simple and easy to pick up. “With only 10 rules, Ultimate is easy to learn but challenging to master since a Frisbee does not behave like a ball,” says Greg Jonuk, PGDS Executive Member. The league is geared for new, novice, and experienced players and everyone is encouraged to give Ultimate a try. The league will be played on Monday evenings in December, and Wednesday evenings in January and February. The cost for the league will be $60/player, with a reduced rate of $25/player for students. Interested players can register on the website at www.pgultimate.ca. ONLINE SOURCE Awesome ulti master elevates for disk ONLINE SOURCE ‘The most amazing ulti player ever laying out big time