Justin McChesney soaking in the tempo of the High Flying Thunder Birds

Prince Rupert's Justin McChesney
in action with UBC
(photo from T-Bird website)

For Prince Rupert's Justin McChesney every game though 2016's University fall season must have had the feel of a basketball clinic, offering up learning opportunities on every possession as the UBC Thunderbirds continued to dominate in their play for the first half of the schedule on the road to March.

The T-birds are offering up a well balanced game so far this season, with the former Rainmaker coming off the bench and inserted into the action in a number of game time situations, part of the process of adjustment to the quicker pace and strategic planning required of University ball.

Such were the efforts of the T-Birds in the first half of the season that heading into Christmas they have claimed the status of one of the top squads in the CanadaWest conference of Canada's University game known as U Sports.

In the final rankings of the month, the T-Birds find themselves holding down the number two position nationally, with only the defending National champion Carleton Ravens out of Ottawa holding the T-Birds back from the Top position in the country.

UBC achieved their push to number two with a combination of strong offence and tough minded defensive play. The stats sheet to December highlights some of results of the UBC system, an on the court blue print which has seen the T-Birds collect 716 Points through their offensive play, while holding the opposition to 559 points over the course of their first 8 games of Conference action.

Coming out strong after the first tip off of the season has been key to the UBC success to date, with an 8-0 record in the CanadaWest conference propelling them to the national rankings for December 6th.

The early season success comes from countless hours in the gym in practice and from play in both Conference action and exhibition match ups over the course of the last three months.

For the Rainmaker that is settling into the Birds nest, this season is very much one to learn the UBC system and soak in as much as he can when it comes to the Thunder Bird approach on the court.

As for an individual stats review, when it comes to the playing time and point totals to the Christmas break for Mr. McChesney, the numbers look as follows:

Total Time:  82 Minutes  Total Points: 13 


December 3 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 96 vs UBC Okanagan 49
Minutes Played: 6  Total Points: 0

December 2 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 100 vs UBC Okanagan 64
Minutes Played: 8  Total Points: 1

November 27 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 93 vs UVic 89 (OT)
Minutes Played: 0  Total Points: 0

November 25  (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 82 vs UVic 69
Minutes Played: 0  Total Points: 0

November 19 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 75 vs Manitoba 72
Minutes Played: 0  Total Points: 0

November 18 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 96 vs Manitoba 89
Minutes Played: 0  Total Points: 0

November 12 (Exhibition)
UBC 80 vs Northwest Christian (Oregon) 66
Minutes Played: 2 Total Points: 0

November 11 (Exhibition)
Northwest Christian (Oregon) 92 vs UBC 80 (OT)
Minutes Played: 7  Total Points:  0

November 5 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 78 vs Thompson Rivers 67
Minutes Played: 0  Total Points: 0

November 4 (CWUAA Conference Play)
UBC 96 vs Thompson Rivers 60
Minutes Played: 0  Total Points: 0

PRE-SEASON

October 29
UBC 107 vs Lakehead 75
Minutes Played: 8  Total Points 0

October 28
UBC 96 vs Wilfrid Laurier 63
Minutes Played: 6  Total Points: 0

October 22
UBC 83 vs Nipissing 59
Minutes Played: 9   Total Points: 2

October 21
UBC 94 vs Western 70
No Statistics Available

October 16
UBC 101 vs Lethbridge 73
Minutes Played: 12 Total Points: 0

October 14
UBC 94 vs Lethbridge 81
Minutes Played: 9  Total Points: 3

October 7 
UBC 87 vs Seattle 66
No Statistics Available

August 11 
Charlotte 89 vs UBC 71
Minutes Played: 15  Total Points: 7

The Thunderbirds are back in action at the end of the month as they head to Phoenix and an appearance at the Phoenix College Holliday Classic.

UBC has three games over the course of their 72 hours of play in the US Southwest.

The schedule looks as follows:

Phoenix College Holiday Classic
December 28
UBC vs Future College 2 PM

December 29 
UBC vs Phoenix College  6 PM

December 30
Cochise College  Noon

When they head back into their regular schedule on January 6th, the Thunderbirds will head for Saskatoon, where UBC will play the Saskatchewan Huskies in a two game series.

You can follow more items related to Prince Rupert athletes in sports away from the North Coast from our archive page.