Sports

Photo: Contributed - Andrew Snucins

#5 Ed Dane Medi helps the team protects the rim in Kamloops against the WolfPack.

This was a game veteran guard Yassine Ghomari refused to lose – and he proved this down the stretch by scoring some much needed points for the Heat when the team was reeling in the fourth quarter.

His points pushed the UBC Okanagan Heat men’s basketball team to a victory Saturday night in Kamloops as they downed the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 76-59. The Heat start the second half of their season by notching their second victory and first road win of the year and both came at the expense of their BC Interior rival.

The game got off to a great start for UBC Okanagan as Ghomari used his quick hands to steal the ball on the tipoff and went down the court for the uncontested layup and a quick two-point lead.

This was a great way for Yassine to reintroduce himself to both his teammates and opponents – the Vancouver native hasn’t played in a league game since opening night in Victoria. Ghomari went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of that game and the Heat have sorely missed their leading scorer from last season.

Ghomari scored 8 of his game high 20 points in the fourth quarter and scored six straight points during a one-minute span at a crucial point late in the game when the WolfPack had just erased a 12 point deficit with a 17-3 run to start the fourth quarter.

Freshman guard Mitch Goodwin (Kelowna, BC) matched Ghomari’s 20 points for the Heat with 20 of his own; the first-year player also led UBC Okanagan in rebounds with eight, and iced the game with a three pointer of his own in the final minute and a half.

Greet Gill (Osoyoos, BC) had 11 points, and fourth year post Dave Mackay (Vancouver, BC) shut down the WolfPack’s twin bigs, Blaz (1pt, 2 rbs) and Ivan (2 pts, 5 rbds) Bozinovic and contributed three blocks for the Kelowna squad.
 
After a tough first half of the season the Heat move to 2-9 and will look to build a winning streak as the University of Calgary Dinos and the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns travel to Kelowna next week.

The Heat will host the 4-6 Dinos on Friday at 8 p.m. and the 5-5 Pronghorns on Saturday at 7 p.m.

-- With files from Cary Mellon