Timberwolves thunder through to final after making short work of Mystics

It was 20 minutes of pure Haligonian horror.

Halifax’s Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics tried to make a game of it in the latter stages Friday night, but the halftime score of this national semifinal at Calgary’s SAIT Polytechnic said it all – University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) Northern Timberwolves 50, MSVU 23.

“That first half . . . was really hard to come back from,” muttered MSVU’s Carl Wickstrom (5th-year forward, Oakfield, N.S.). “We did outscore them in the second half, but that first was a killer.”

The Timberwolves, who only began play in the British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA) during the 1999-2000 season, have advanced to their first gold-medal final at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association men’s basketball national championship tournament. And for that they can thank a quick transition game and lights-out shooting from Jose Araujo (3rd-year guard, Toronto), who nailed seven of his eight three-point baskets in the first half.

“We talked about wanting to play a full 40 minutes. It’s something we’ve had our battles with the last little while. Defensively, we were ready to go, and we got off to a good start from there,” said second-year UNBC head coach Mike Raimbault, the 2009-10 CCAA coach of the year.

“I don’t know if I ever felt satisfied – the point being, MSVU is a very good basketball team, and a team you really can’t relax on,” added Raimbault. “We knew at some point they were going to make a run. We just wanted to continue to work at the things that were helping us have some success.”

UNBC plays the winner of Saturday’s late championship semi between the SAIT Trojans and the Champlain College Cavaliers of St-Lambert, Que., in the national final on Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. MT.

The Timberwolves stretched their lead to as much as 39 points before coasting home in the fourth quarter. Araujo finished the game with 24 points, including eight-of-14 from beyond the arc.

Teammates Dennis Stark (3rd-year post, Prince George, B.C.) and Inderbir Gill (4th-year guard, Spokane, Wash.) contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, in a winning cause.

“My teammates were finding me, and I was just knocking it down,” said Araujo, a native of El Salvador. “It feels real good. Again, I’ve got to give credit to my teammates. It all started through defence.”

The Mystics, meanwhile, who are making their fifth straight appearance at CCAA nationals, and won the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association crown this season, are still in medal contention. They’ll play a bronze-medal semifinal against the Humber College Hawks of Etobicoke, Ont., on Saturday, March 20 at 10 a.m. MT. The bronze-medal game tips off Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.

The top point-getter for MSVU was Sean Boulay (4th-year forward, Moncton, N.B.), with 10. Wickstrom and Luke Reynolds (2nd-year forward, Bedford, N.S.) drained nine apiece.

“We were just off, really. Usually our defence is so much better than that,” said Wickstrom. “I’m not going to lie. They’re a great shooting team, and they hit a lot of shots down the stretch. We just couldn’t convert all our defensive steals, and turnovers, and all that, and we just couldn’t execute on offence.”

As for the Timberwolves, they aren’t getting ahead of themselves. “We understand the job isn’t done yet,” said Araujo. “We worked hard all year . . . day in, day out, to be in the match we’ve got (Saturday).”

For live game webcasts, real-time stats, photo galleries, and recaps, visit the official CCAA national tournament website at http://www.sait2010.ca/