WOLFPACK MBB WIN FIRST OF CIS SEASON
For immediate Release: October 31, 2008
Kamloops—It was better than a whole bag full of candy. And it could have been sweeter.
The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Men’s basketball team has tasted the fruit of victory for the first time this young Canada West regular season. Playing at home, the WolfPack downed the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 69-66 for their first victory in three starts.
“I’m certainly happy for the young men in the program,” says WolfPack head coach Thom Gillespie. “They have been working hard since September 1st…trying to raise the level of their play for Canada West. We were a little disappointed last weekend, so this helped to clean a little salt out of the wounds.”
TRU led 16-11 at the quarter mark and outscored the Pronghorns 12-8 in the second en route to a 28-20 half time lead.
“ I thought we played some pretty good defence in the first half,” says Gillespie .”Neither team shot the ball well, which made both team’s defence look pretty good. I thought the difference between this week and last week was that we were bending and not breaking in the third quarter. We had a lead but we stayed even (teams tied at 49) and our fortitude carried us through.”
Jeff Friesen (4th year, forward, Duncan, BC) was the top gunner for TRU with 22 points.
“We stuck to our game plan,” Friesen said “We boxed out a little better than normal…and limited our turnovers.”
Drew Bleth (4 th year, guard,Ridgefield, Wash) had 18 points with Greg Stewart (3rd year,forward, Kamloops, BC) contributing 13 points.
Reflecting on his team’s first venture into the “W” category, Gillespie was philosophical: “I think it was a total team effort. I know that Jeff had some big numbers and Greg brought some great energy…but certainly everyone contributed. Every guy played. Whether they played 30 minutes or six minutes, everybody was a part of this.”
The WolfPack have little time to savoir the victory. They entertain the University of Calgary Dinos on Saturday night (Nov 1). Tip off is 7 pm