Friday night in Langley, the UNBC Timberwolves (1-16) dropped a 76-66 decision to the hosts from Trinity Western (9-8). David Mutabazi finished with a 23-point, 10 rebound double-double effort for the hosts while Connor Platz and Josh Belvin each added 16 points to the victory. Evgeny Baukin responded with a team-high 20 for UNBC while adding eight rebounds, four steals and a pair of blocks. The next best performer offensively for the TWolves was Josh Gillespie who matched his previous career-high with 17 points.

A back-and-forth first quarter resulted in a 15-15 score through 10 minutes. First-year guard Milan Pasquale got off to a solid start for Todd Jordan's club as he notched six points. Fellow first-year Miller Davies did his part to keep the energy on the bench high as he connected on a dunk off a pick-and-roll sequence with Isaiah Bias. The Spartans got four points apiece in response from vbeterans David Mutabazi and Connor Platz.

It was a tale of two quarters for UNBC in the second. Trinity Western roared out of the gates on a 14-3 run on the strength of four separate threes. But the TWolves chipped away. Josh Gillespie hit a pair of threes and racked up eight points total as the TWolves would only be outscored by three when all was said and done. At half, Gillespie led all TWolves with 10 while Platz led all scorers with 14 points at the half. On the glass Mutabazi held the game lead with eight first-half boards, while Baukin and Bias each had four apiece for UNBC.

A back-and-forth third quarter saw the Spartans increase their lead by three more to 56-50. The pair of Mutabazi (12) and Josh Belvin (8) supplied 20 of Trinity's 23 points while Evgeny Baukin was the offensive catalyst in response for UNBC as he posted eight. Ben White and Bias also added threes in the quarter for UNBC who were tied at 48 with three minutes and change, but the Spartans ended the period on an 8-2 run.

The game never at any point fell out of reach, but unfortunately the TWolves were unable to sway the tide in the final quarter. The Spartans outscored UNBC by a 20-16 margin thanks to a well spread out attack that featured points from six different Trinity players. Baukin (7) and Gillespie (5) combined for 12 fourth quarter points for UNBC in response. The final bucket of the night for UNBC was a highlight-reel alley-oop dunk from Baukin that was set up nicely by Chris Ainsley.

The TWolves and Spartans will duke it out once more tomorrow evening at 6:00 pm at the Langley Events Centre.