The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) Northern Timberwolves have developed this disturbing habit for late-game comeback drama. But even by their own standards, Thursday afternoon was far too close for comfort.

The No. 1-seeded Timberwolves, trailing by as much as 17 points early in the second half, rallied for a 76-71 victory over the No. 8-ranked Fanshawe College Falcons of London, Ont., during their first-round clash at the 2010 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association men’s basketball national championship tournament at Calgary’s SAIT Polytechnic.

UNBC head coach Mike Raimbault said his squad was lucky to survive.

“To be honest, we feel like we escaped,” said Raimbault, who’d been named the CCAA’s coach of the year the previous evening. “Fanshawe played a hell of a game, they gave us everything we could handle, and they were the better team for a large portion of that game.

“Unfortunately, we’ve sort of made a bad habit of (playing from behind),” added Raimbault. “We’ve been in a lot of games where we’ve had to do that. Thankfully, at this point, we have some experience being in those types of situations, and that experience definitely helped. We didn’t panic.”

The T-Wolves advance to a national semifinal on Friday, March 19 at 6 p.m. MT, against the Mount Saint Vincent (Halifax) Mystics.

Behind 40-24 at the break, UNBC finally moved back to within shouting distance with about five minutes left in the game. The T-Wolves finally took the lead, 68-67, on a three-pointer by Jose Araujo (3rd-year guard, Toronto) with 1:46 left. The final 100 seconds saw four more lead changes, with Fanshawe’s Pat Wright (4th-year post, Port Edward, Ont.) sinking a pair of critical inside baskets, but Kevin Madsen (1st-year post, Prince George) put UNBC ahead for good at 72-71 in the final minute.

“I’m proud of my guys. I wouldn’t change anything,” said veteran Fanshawe head coach Glenn Johnston, whose troops were crushed in defeat.

“We played solidly, and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes,” added Johnston. “We were seeded No. 8, but you can’t tell me we can’t play with any of these guys.”

Inderbir Gill (4th-year guard, Spokane, Wash.), a finalist for the CCAA player-of-the-year award, led UNBC with17 points, while teammates Araujo and Francis Rowe (2nd-year guard, Victoria, B.C.) chipped in16 apiece. Wright drained 21 for Fanshawe, the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association runner-up and second wild-card entry at these nationals, while Will Bradbury (1st-year guard, Kitchener, Ont.) added 17.

“We don’t feel like an eighth-seed team. We made our college proud and represented them well,” said Wright. “We definitely aren’t going to roll over for any of these teams.”

The Timberwolves shot just 25 per cent in the first half, and 35.7 per cent overall. UNBC outrebounded Fanshawe by a narrow margin, 40 to 37. Wright was the game’s top rebounder, with 10, while UNBC’s Dennis Stark (3rd-year post, Prince George, B.C.) brought down nine.

The T-Wolves, who are British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association champions for the first time, extended their year-long record to 20-1.

“The story of our season this year,” Gill said of his squad’s penchant for late comebacks. “That’s way too many, and we don’t want it like that anymore. These are the best eight teams (in Canada) . . . we didn’t bring our best in the first three quarters, and that’s what happens – you’re down 17.”

The CCAA gold-medal game will tip off at 8 p.m. MT on Saturday, March 20.