KAMLOOPS, B.C. – A big differential in 3-point shooting percentage proved to be the difference in a 95-88 loss for the University of Providence men's basketball team against Thompson Rivers University.  The Wolfpack shot a staggering 50 percent from long range, while the Argos hit just 6-23 from three for a percentage of 26.1.
 
UP fed the post in the first half to some good success. Senior forward Steven Daho-Clark and transfer wing D'shea Williams each scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes and combined to shoot 8-13 from the field. Daho-Clark also made it to the free-throw line often and 5-6 from the charity stripe.
 
The team's starting lineup of Daho-Clark, Williams, senior guard Sergio Berkley, junior guard Jack Taylor, and forward Treyvon Bashir scored 72 percent of the team's first half points but did receive a good bench performance from senior guard Matthew Brooks-McGregor who went 3-6 from the field to score 7 first half points.
 
Having put up 44 points through 20 minutes of play with a team shooting percentage of 51.6, the offense wasn't really the Argo's problem. What was a problem, was TRU's deadly long-range shooting. The Wolfpack went 7-11 in the first half from distance which put Thompson Rivers ahead by 3 points at the half.
 
UP tied up the score early in the second half, but after that, the Wolfpack got on a roll. Thompson Rivers eventually worked the lead up to 12 points with 11 minutes left in the game.
 
A 9-0 Argo run brought the deficit back down to 3 points. UP got as close as 1 point four times in the remaining nine minutes, but could never make that next bucket to take the lead.
 
While Williams and Daho-Clark went silent in the second half, Berkley and senior guard Jared Shultz made up for their absence. Thompson Rivers simply couldn't keep Berkley in front of them. The senior scored 17 second half points and did an excellent job of getting to the free-throw line. He went 5-10 from the field and 7-7 from the charity stripe in the period.
 
Shultz wasn't quite that productive, but he wasn't too far off either. He went 3-6 from the field, including 2-4 from three, and 4-4 from the line to score 12 points in the second half.
 
Brooks-McGregor was the only Argo to score consistently in both halves of the game, adding 9 points to his total in the second half.
 
UP's record goes to 1-1 to start the season with the loss. The Argos will come home for the first time in 2017-18 for its next game, a matchup against Yellowstone Christian College on October 28 at 3 p.m. in the McLaughlin Center.