It's always a little extra special when you win your last ever home game. That is the experience that three members of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's basketball team felt on Saturday.
Tallon Milne (forward, Vanderhoof, BC), Brett Rouault ( guard, Vernon, BC) and Brett Parker (guard, Langley, BC) saw their five year CIS career at home come to a close as their WolfPack downed the visiting Mount Royal University Cougars 66-62.
The victory kept the WolfPack playoff hopes very much alive as they split the weekend with the Cougars to up their record to 10-8 while Mount Royal falls to 8-10.
"I think all three players left all they had on the floor," said WolfPack head coach Scott Clark about the three fifth years. "If you likened it to baseball, they didn't leave the bat on the shoulder. They were swinging. If they hit it out of the park which I guess we did in this case with the win or if they struck out at least they gave it their all."
Rouault led the WolfPack in scoring in this one with 21 points
and six rebounds in 34 minutes. Parker had nine points and
three rebounds in 25 minutes while Milne had seven rebounds, two
assists, three blocks and a steal in 24 minutes of floor time.
"We played hard in stretches and when you do that good things
happen," said Clark about the game as a whole. "Offensively it
wasn't a masterpiece at times. But down the stretch there is no
surprises about what you are going to see. It's your
defensive execution which is key and we were better than last
night."
Reese Pribilsky (fourth year, guard, Victoria, BC) had 10 rebounds.
Mount Royal was up 21-16 after the first quarter but the WolfPack led by three at the half (33-31). The Cougars were up 48-45 at three quarters.
They had three players in double figures: James Lefebre (fourth year, forward, Didsbury, AB) had 19 points and 10 boards. Deng Awak (fifth year, guard, Brooks, AB) had 15 points and 12 rebounds while former WolfPack Derek Wolf (guard, Penticton, BC) chipped in with 13.
Thompson Rivers visits Fraser Valley next weekend (Feb. 13-14) to close out the regular season while Mount Royal returns home to host MacEwan.