Prince George, BC – A dramatic finish to an exciting game left the UNBC Timberwolves 4-8 after a triple overtime loss to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. The Pronghorns win their sixth straight game and move to 9-3 after their road win Saturday night at the Northern Sport Centre.

Outside shooting and foul shouts were key to the Pronghorns victory over the Timberwolves. Back-to-back unanswered threes gave Lethbridge a six point lead in the third overtime period. Morgan Duce (Raymond, AB) drained one of these threes and led scoring with 35 points. Logan Reiter (Lethbridge, AB) put up 27 while Alex Fletcher (Merced, CA) chipped in 19.

The Timberwolves perimeter shooting gave them an early lead and kept them battling throughout the game. Jibreel Stevens (Tacoma, WA) brought the fire early, netting 16 in the first half alone, Stevens finished the game with 22. Jeff Chu (Vancouver, BC) and Billy Cheng (Richmond, BC) came out big for the Timberwolves late in the game adding 17 and 16 respectively. Even with their shooting game on par it was Devin McMurtry (Surrey, BC) who contributed on both ends of the court, adding 15 points and 15 boards for his first double-double as a Timberwolf.

With no more than a 10 point lead in either direction, the Timberwolves and Pronghorns put on a great display of Canada West basketball on Saturday night. The Pronghorns were able to bring it within two points early in the second quarter but almost as quickly as they closed the gap the Timberwolves we able to widen it again. Stevens was on fire from behind the arc, shooting a solid 4-4 in the first half. An eight point difference separated the two teams at halftime with the Timberwolves leading 53-45.

The Timberwolves maintained their lead in the third but momentum switched in the fourth quarter. With three minutes left in regulation time Duce stole the ball for the Pronghorns and drew the foul. The fifth year guard went two-for-two from the charity stripe bringing Lethbridge to within four points of the Timberwolves. It wasn't until the last 49 seconds that the game would be tied at 91 after Reiter drained a three. Two more baskets and again the game was tied at 93 when McMurtry got off a last second shot, Brandon Brine (Adelaide, AUS) came out with a game saving block sending it into overtime.

Three more five minute periods would take place before a winner was finally decided at the Northern Sport Centre. Jeff Chu made a big shot for the Timberwolves tying the game at 102 with 1.0 seconds left on the clock. Chu's shot from behind the arc sent the game into its second overtime period. This time it would be Morgan Duce who would tie it up with 5.6 seconds left. Duce hit a three to tie the game at 112, sending Lethbridge and UNBC into their third overtime period.

The biggest lead since the fourth quarter was held by the Pronghorns after back-to-back threes put them up 122-118 with just over a minute to play. The Timberwolves were able to answer with a bucket down-low but with only 13.1 seconds left and still down two UNBC was forced to foul. The Pronghorns went to the line twice in the final seconds and were a solid four-for-four. At the final whistle, after three overtime periods, the Pronghorns were victorious 126-120 over the Timberwolves.

Next weekend the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns will host the nationally-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears for a double header January 17-18. The UNBC Timberwolves will return to the Northern Sport Centre when they host the nationally-ranked University of Victoria Vikes on Friday and Saturday night. All games can be viewed at canadawest.tv