By Adam Floujeh
The TMU Bold men’s basketball team defeated the UNBC Timberwolves Saturday afternoon with a score of 70-50 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
It was a story of two halves for the Bold as their inability to fortify the paint and inconsistent shooting turned around in the back half of the match, leading to their second pre-season win three days after beating the Humber Hawks 97-63 on Thursday.
The game started off with instant entertainment. UNBC committed the game’s first foul within the first 20 seconds of possession. Then, TMU’s fourth-year guard Aidan Wilson opened the scoring with a dunk to get the Saturday crowd buzzing.
UNBC responded with three consecutive drives for their first six points, taking the lead over TMU. Neither team led by more than four points for most of the quarter but it was a collective of missed three-pointers from fourth-year guard Aaron Rhooms and fourth-year forward Elijah Roye and UNBC cutting their way through the Bold paint that allowed the visitors to take over.
The Timberwolves hit the first three-pointer of the game with 41 seconds left in the quarter to make it 11-10, sparking a nine-point run capped by a buzzer-beater to end the quarter at 17-10 for the Timberwolves.
UNBC maintained their momentum to start the second quarter with an early three-pointer triggering the Bold to call a timeout.
With more composure out of the timeout, the blue-and-gold bounced back. After breaking the Timberwolves’ run with a free throw by first-year guard Javier Gilgeous-Glasgow, the Bold mounted a seven-point run of their own, highlighted by a layup for first-year center Andrejs Silconoks off a slick low bounce pass by Rhooms.
The Bold run was halted at 7:07 by a UNBC layup to make the score 22-17 for the Timberwolves.
The defence struggled to contain the Timberwolves offence led by third-year forward Evgeny Baukin but a deep three from first-year Bold guard Maxine Louis-Jean got the Bold within two.
At that point, the game stayed close but Baukin kept the Timberwolves in front. He headed to the free-throw line with 44 seconds left, sinking both shots to bring his total to 18 points, with 14 coming in the second quarter alone.
Louis-Jean’s three-point shooting proved to provide an answer though, as his jumping three-pointer with three seconds left kept TMU within three. The score was 33-30 in favour of the visitors heading into halftime.
A Bold foul 11 seconds into the third frame opened the door for the Timberwolves but an air ball by UNBC’s Milan Pasquale was ultimately the matchup’s turning point.
Another three-pointer by Louis-Jean and a Rhooms layup got TMU their first lead since the opening quarter within a few minutes.
The salt in the wound was a missed dunk from UNBC‘s Marcus Wilson, which led to a TMU layup the next play. Wilson did earn some redemption with a layup of his own to get the Timberwolves within two but a UNBC turnover shortly after was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The Bold defence found their groove, combining with improved transition play to keep TMU surging ahead. After a missed basket by Baukin for UNBC, Aaron Rhooms converted the other way to put the Bold ahead by 9.
Not long later, Louis-Jean sunk his fourth three-pointer of the game, helping fuel a seven-point run to give the Bold a double-digit lead. Back-to-back strong defensive plays maintained that lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.
The long-range shooting and weak protection of the paint were the Bold’s Achilles heels early but became their strength as the game went on. The defensive side of the ball was led by Louis-Jean’s relentless guarding and Silconoks’ prowess in the paint. Gilgeous-Alexander helped on the boards, picking up a game-high 16 rebounds to match his 16 points.
Rhooms and second-year guard Michael Kayembe both rubbed salt in the wound with dunks in the dying minutes of the quarter, with Rhooms’ highlighted by a wicked pass to the outside from first-year guard Kevin Toth.
It was Toth, however, who took a foul at the sideline to send Baukin—who hadn’t scored in the third up to that point—to the free-throw line. He buried two of three foul shots to bring TMU’s lead to 55-43.
When Toth committed the foul, his teammates and coaches were visibly frustrated but still consoled the guard. Even if it’s just pre-season, it’s an example of the Bold focusing on the details.
Inspired, Toth opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a lay-up, helping TMU keep on the pressure. Gilgeous-Alexander continued with a layup to put TMU up 59-43, after which they never looked back.
Rhooms stormed through the paint to build the Bold’s lead to 18, a drive that triggered a UNBC timeout with seven minutes to go in the game. It was at that point the game’s result was clear, as the Timberwolves followed up by turning over the ball on the next play and TMU kept rolling at both ends of the court.
UNBC’s frustration started to show as a pair of fouls sent Gilgeous-Alexander and Glasgow to the free-throw line. These, paired with a beautiful Gilgeous-Alexander behind-the-back pass to Louis-Jean, put TMU up 66-44.
The bench took the court to close the game out for the dying minutes as the Bold took home the win.
UP NEXT: The Bold’s pre-season continues against UBC Okanagan Heat on Oct. 5 at the MAC. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
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