Friday night at the Northern Sport Centre the UNBC Timberwolves (0-4) dropped a hard-fought 64-51 decision to the visiting Trinity Western Spartans (3-2). Moriah Jansen paced the Spartans attack with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Viktoriia Filatova responded with a season-best 20 for the home side. Sergey Shchepotkin's club put forth their best effort of the young season to date, and led for a good portion of the first-three quarters before the Spartans pulled away.

It took nearly two-and-a-half minutes for the scoring to start, but the TWolves struck first with two free throws from Amrit Manak. Van Der Hoven replied for the Spartans, before Manak's triple gave UNBC a 5-3 edge. A three from Filatova, a layup by Manak, and a Yana Shupak free throw pushed the lead to 11-5 early.

Trinity responded with an 11-3 run to close the first, taking a 16-14 lead after 10 minutes. Moriah Jansen paced the Spartans with six points, while Manak tallied seven for UNBC.

The TWolves regained momentum in the second, opening with a 7-2 run highlighted by a Phillips three and Filatova's free throws for a 21-18 lead. UNBC's defense held Trinity to just six points on 3-for-16 shooting, and late buckets from Filatova and Phillips helped the hosts lead 28-22 at half. Filatova had 12 points and Manak nine; Van Der Hoven led the Spartans with eight.

Manak opened the third with back-to-back threes for a 34-24 cushion, but Trinity answered with a 12-0 run led by Myrlaine Shelvey, Mavleen Chahal, and Cassidy Buchanan to go up two. Filatova tied it late, but a Shelvey free throw gave the Spartans a 37-36 edge heading to the fourth.

Manak's free throws briefly restored the lead, before Sydney Bradshaw's deep three sparked a 9-2 Trinity run. The Spartans stretched it to 11 points midway through the quarter, with nine players on the scoresheet and Van Der Hoven leading the way with 10.

Trinity's offense was simply too much down the stretch as they outscored the TWolves 27-15 in the final 10 on their way to a 64-51 victory. Jansen (13), Chahal (12), and Van der Hoven (12) all ended up with double-digits for the Spartans while the veteran tandem of Filatova (20) and Manak (17) combined for 37 points for UNBC.

These two sides will duke it out again tomorrow at 5:00 pm from the Northern Sport Centre.