Friday night at UBCO, the UBC Okanagan Heat (2-5) earned an 86-74 victory over the UNBC Timberwolves (2-4). The duo of Lamine Conde (29) and Isaak Moore (28) combined for 57 points for the hosts while Jalen Shirley chimed in with 16 points and 10 assists for a double-double. UNBC's top scorer was Tony Kibonge who led the way with 19, and was an impressive five-for-11 from deep. Evgeny Baukin was next with 17 points and Haukur Davidsson reached double-digits as well with 11.

A three from Kibonge and a single free-throw from Miller Davies got UNBC off and running with a 4-0 lead. The TWolves were successful on five of their first eight field-goal attempts and led 13-11 at the halfway point of the quarter.  Back-to-back threes from UBCO's Isaak Moore came soon thereafter though, giving the Heat a four-point lead. Momentum stayed with the hosts as they'd finish the quarter on a 14-3 run, giving them a 25-16 lead through 10. Moore paced the Heat attack with 10 first quarter points while Lamine Conde added seven. Kibonge, Davies and Sunga each had three in response for UNBC.

Marcus Nickles kicked off the second quarter with a three, which moved Todd Jordan's club back within six. For Nickles, it marked his first field goal of 2025-26, but it helped spark a rally for UNBC. The next seven points for UNBC all came from Haukur Davidsson who connected three times in close, and added a single free-throw make to give him seven in the quarter and a team-high nine at the halfway point of the second. Moore (3) and Conde (5) combined for eight of UBCO's first 10 points in the second, allowing them to maintain a seven-point cushion. A pair of Sunga free-throws and a successful jumper from Danilo Gonzalez pushed UNBC back within four, but a late triple from Moore and a single free-throw from Jalen Shirley sent UBCO into the tunnel with a 41-34 halftime lead.
Moore led all scorers with 16 points at half, while Conde was next with 12. On the UNBC side Davidsson led with nine points while Evgeny Baukin had a game-high seven rebounds at the half.  

Threes from Baukiin and Sunga, plus two more free-throw makes from Davidsson put UNBC on an 8-4 run to start the second, and the gap was back to three. Kibonge would later hit twice from deep, and Cairo Wells got in on the three-point fun which kept UNBC within striking distance. With under two minutes remaining in the third, the Timberwolves tied things up when Isaiah Bias crashed the paint, and slid a pass to his left to the streaking Kibonge who finished off a layup. That tied things up at 54-54. But Moore's big night continued at the other side for UBCO. He hit two more threes in the final minute, including a lengthy buzzer-beater as time expired, which pushed the Heat lead back up to six with 10 minutes of regulation remaining.

Through three, Kibonge, Baukin and Davidsson all had 11 points for UNBC while Moore was the runaway scoring leader with 22.

With UBCO up seven (69-62), Kibonge drilled from deep, and Bias connected on a layup which again forced a one possession game with plenty of time to play in the fourth. But Moore hit a jumper and Mike Adarkwah-Nti hit two free-throws which moved UBCO back up six. Again the Bias/Kibonge tandem answered with a layup and a triple respectively. For Kibonge it marked his fifth triple of the night putting him within one of his single-game season-high of six.

That's as close as UNBC'd get on Friday though as Anthony Brady and Conde both hit from deep with under two minutes left, and all of a sudden the Heat led by 11 with 1:26 to play. A 13-2 run down the stretch for the hosts helped them earn an 86-74 victory – their second in as many games against UNBC.

The two sides will lock horns again tomorrow at 4:30 pm from Kelowna.