Calgary, AB – The Cougars came all the way back but were unable to finish off the UNBC Timberwolves who took Friday night's contest 77-73. Rhys Elliot scored 21 points for the Timberwolves while Brett Layton scored 16 for Mount Royal.

At first glance you would not assume you were watching the bottom two teams in the division. The Cougars and Timberwolves ran the floor and scored at will. After seven minutes UNBC led 18-11 and were managing to contain the Cougars on the glass. After the first quarter of play, the Cougars trailed by ten, 21-11.

The Timberwolves opened up an even bigger lead to start the quarter jumping up by 13, forcing Cougars Head Coach Marc Dobell to call a timeout. The Cougars scoring woes continued in the second quarter only managing 18 points. After two UNBC opened up a sizeable 42-29 lead over Mount Royal.

The Cougars showed signs of life in the second half as veteran point guard Derek Wolf went to work. Wolf drove hard to the basket on two occasions, finding James Lefebvre and Glen Yang for easy buckets. The Cougars kept grinding and found themselves down just two points heading into the third quarter.  

UNBC bounced back opening up a ten point lead to start the break. After that initial stumble, the Cougars slowly chipped away. The teams traded blows until the Cougars trailed by only four points. Brett Layton went to work late scoring three late baskets underneath, giving Mount Royal a 71-70 lead.

UNBC grabbed the lead right back off the inbound and then Mount Royal turned the ball over giving Rhys Elliot an easy lay-in to put UNBC up 74-71. Layton scored right off the restart to put the Cougars to within a point. Derek Wolf had the game in his hands down three points. Wolf launched a three-pointer but it just caught the back of the rim giving UNBC the 77-73 victory.

With the loss the Cougars fall to a league-worst 1-6. The Timberwolves improve to 3-4, to move two wins up on Mount Royal.

These two sides will have a short turnaround as the Cougars will host the Timberwolves tomorrow night at 7:00pm on Kenyon Court.