VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds have shown a killer instinct in their two victories to open the 2009 exhibition season as they defeated the Windsor Lancers 77-70 Friday night with a strong surge over the final two minutes at War Memorial Gym.

The victory was the T-Birds second consecutive preseason win that wasn't assured until the final buzzer had sounded, they beat Laval 78-77 on Thursday, despite their dominant play through the first three quarters tonight.

UBC turned a 13 point lead at the half into 19 point advantage heading into the final quarter after a smothering defence held the Lancers to just eight points in the third quarter.

With the victory seemingly all but assured, the T-Birds took their collective foot off the gas which allowed the talented Windsor squad, who were ranked as high as third in the nation last season, to close the deficit to just one.

Having never led in the game, the Lancers used a 29-11 run over the first eight minutes of the final frame to pull within a single point at 71-70 before the T-Birds responded with a 6-0 run to close out the win.

After a pair of Kamar Burke free throws restored a three point lead with a minute and a half left, Josh Whyte all but sealed the win with a tough lay-up in traffic that made it a two possession game with just 48 seconds on the clock.

UBC forced a turnover on the Lancers next possession and Whyte closed out the scoring with another jumper.

The standout point guard led the T-Birds in scoring for the second straight game with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and he chipped in with two assists.

Burke led a dominating UBC performance on the glass with a game high 14 rebounds, to go along with 14 points, with Kyle Watson also cracking double figures with 11 boards. UBC out rebounded the Lancers 50-37.

The T-Birds opened the game with an 8-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. They led 19-16 after one quarter and used a big second frame, that saw them net 27 points, to increase their lead to 13 at the half.

UBC led by as many as 22 late in the third quarter before staving off the Lancers comeback.

Nigel Johnson-Tyghter (17), Isaac Kuon (16), and Josh Collins (14) led the Lancer comeback as they combined for 47 of the visitors' 70 points.

Neither team had great success from the floor, as the Lancers finished just 24-of-67 (35.8 per cent) and the T-Birds 27-of-68 (39.7 per cent).

UBC wraps up their preseason schedule next week with a game against Waterloo on Saturday, October 24. Game time is schedule for 3 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.