MBB | T-Wolves win first-ever bronze at CanWest level

Written by Mike Still, Bison Sports 

WINNIPEG – The No. 12 seed UNBC Timberwolves went on multiple runs, including an 11-0 run with five minutes to go in the fourth, capping their Cinderella showing at the 2024 Canada West Playoff Tournament with a 94-80 win over the No. 2 seed Calgary Dinos on Sunday at IGAC. 

The win secured UNBC their best finish in school history at the U SPORTS level, as they returned to Prince George with a bronze medal. 

Four different players scored in double figures for UNBC, led by Chris Ross, paced the team with 25 points in his final U SPORTS game. 

“We played with a lot of energy and heart,” said Ross, who had his parents in the crowd.

“It was the fourth game in five days, to be able to play with that energy was awesome. We only have three guys graduating. There’s ten guys coming back. They’re going to be able to carry that confidence forward, knowing they can be able to do this.”

Calgary got a career-high 24 points from Gurshan Sran. 

The Timberwolves opened up a 13-6 lead in the first thanks to an 8-0 run that included triples from Justin Sunga and Chris Ross, the former coming at the buzzer. Ross led all UNBC players with 11 points after one, including three triples.

After getting their inside game going early with Gurshan Sran (six points in first five minutes), Dinos all-star point guard Nate Petrone went outside, finding Sran for a triple, while also hitting two himself late in the quarter as Calgary cut UNBC’s lead to four at 28-24 after ten, with the two teams combining for seven triples. 

Sran continued his impressive play in the second, surpassing his career high just under halfway through the second quarter, reaching 18 points.

The versatile big scored fight straight points, including a triple as the Dinos took a 34-33 lead 4:30 thanks to a 10-5 run. Jaylen Lee also found Sran with a no-look bounce pass which the latter drained from the elbow.

The T-Wolves answered with strong inside play of their own, as Ledoux, Evgeny Baukin and Will Keyes all made big plays for UNBC, part of a 17-2 run in the final three minutes.

Ledoux scored five points in the quarter, while Keyes had blocks on two straight Dinos attempts inside, and Baukin scored five points in a row, including a slam dunk to give his side a 43-38 lead with two minutes to go in the half.

Darren Hunter then came off the bench, using a Keyes screen to drain a triple, and he hit a second on the following possession, two of eight in the first half for UNBC, as the T-Wolves led 55-40 going into the third. 

The Dinos began the first four minutes of the third on a 15-5 run, including three triples.

Martynas Sabaliauskas, Dylan Lutes and Sran all hit from distance, as the Dinos used their transition game to take momentum, forcing a UNBC timeout. 

Chris Ross answered back for UNBC, scoring eight in the quarter, including five coming out of the timeout. He also stole away on a Dinos possession, which led to a Baukin dunk, giving UNBC a 67-59 lead with three minutes to go.

From there, it was a back and forth bucket-fest, including four straight from Petrone, one on a tear drop hook shot, as the T-Wolves entered the fourth with a one score lead, 71-68.

A Sran three tied the game up at 73 with 6:24 to go, and the two teams combined for six triples in just over two minutes, but it was UNBC that had the hot hand. 

A Hunter triple and Ross triple made it 85-76, then Baukin finished an impressive contested double as the T-Wolves went on a 11-0 run in just over two minutes, taking an 87-76 lead. They sustained a double-digit lead the rest of the way, en route to their first-ever CanWest bronze medal in school history.