Greg Stewart has seen a lot in four seasons with the TRU WolfPack men’s basketball team.

What he saw Monday was enough to give him plenty of optimism for his fifth and final Canada West season.

Stewart had 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as the WolfPack lost 75-64 to the San Diego Toreros at the Tournament Capital Centre on Monday. The Toreros, an NCAA Division I program, are on a tour of B.C., with games scheduled for later this week against the Fraser Valley Cascades and UBC Thunderbirds.

It was another exceptional performance for the 7-foot-2 Stewart, who was last year’s Canada West defensive player of the year. But his team’s performance — after only two practices together — was enough to have Stewart looking ahead to the start of the school year and the Canada West season.

“It’s Aug. 9, and we’re already coming together,” said Stewart, a South Kam grad. “That usually doesn’t happen until some time around September. If we can keep coming together up to Sept. 8, when school starts, it’s a bonus for us.”

The WolfPack has struggled in its five seasons of Canada West basketball, never coming close to qualifying for the postseason.

Stewart and his teammates are hoping things will be different this season — and with Scott Clark coaching, they might. Clark was hired after spending 15 seasons as head coach of the Simon Fraser Clan, and has shaken things up already.

Of the 12 players listed on the WolfPack’s roster for Monday’s game, six played at TRU last season. Not only is the lineup different, so is the attitude, said Stewart.

“Intensity and work ethic are the big differences,” he said. “(Clark’s) on us, but he’s not — it’s our responsibility to do our jobs. I think we’re focusing a lot on becoming a team right now.”

The WolfPack was never really out of Monday’s game, but never really challenged to Toreros either.

Down 19 going into the fourth quarter, TRU went on a run, and had cut the lead to eight points with 4:45 remaining. In the end, it was turnovers — TRU made 14 in each half — that killed the WolfPack.

“We have to handle the ball a lot better,” Clark said. “Part of it’s a systematic thing — we’re not understanding the system that we’re trying to implement. That takes some getting used to.

“At times we did some things that were OK, and at other times we looked very poor.”

Kevin Pribilsky, a transfer from SFU, scored 11 points in the loss, while rookie Brett Rouault of Vernon also had 11 points. Connor Agnew chipped in with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc.

Chris Manresa had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Toreros and Cameron Miles ended with 15 points. Matt Dorr added 11 points as San Diego shot 45.2 per cent from the field.

The WolfPack now has some idea of where it stands, but it still has a lot of time to fine-tune things before the regular season starts in late October. Stewart doesn’t expect it to get any easier.

“Scott’s a hard-ass coach, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “He’ll be in your face, but he won’t apologize for it, because he wants you to be your best. You have to expect to be the best, and he’ll make sure we do.”

FREE THROWS: The WolfPack only dressed nine players for the game, and lost one early in the second quarter when G Chas Kok sprained his left ankle. . . . G Matt Pierce, a fourth-year player, was in Winnipeg and missed the game. . . . Del Komarniski and Curt Dale, who are the coaches of the South Kamloops Titans senior boys, served as assistants for Clark on Monday, and are expected to help out all season. . . .The game was played by international (FIBA) rules, meaning the Toreros had to play on a 24-second shot clock, 11 seconds quicker than the NCAA plays.

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca