WINNIPEG - The no. 2 ranked UBC Thunderbirds (6-0) had nine players score at least five points in their best offensive performance of the season as they beat the Winnipeg Wesmen (0-8) 89-54 on the road Friday night.
Josh Whyte led UBC with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and the fourth year point guard added five assists and four rebounds.
Blain LaBranche, in his first game back form a knee injury suffered in the season opener against TWU on October 30, showed little rust as he poured in 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
The T-Birds scored a season-high 89 points and had their best shooting performance of the year, going an efficient 35-of-65 (53.8%) from the field.
The Wesmen struggled against the T-Birds tenacious defence and ended the game just 17-of-54 from the field (31.5%). Peter Lomuro led the hosts with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting but his teammates were a combined 10-of-40 (25.0%) from the field.
The T-Birds never trailed, opening the game on a 7-0 run as Whyte and LaBranche combined to give UBC the lead for good. The visitors led by just four after one quarter, but a 26-13 advantage in the second supplied them with a healthy 45-28 cushion at the break.
UBC's effort in the third quarter put the game away as they scored 36 points to outdistance the Wesmen by 20 in the third 10-minute period. The T-Birds opened the quarter on a 10-0 run and they built their lead to as many as 39 with just 11 seconds left on a
Denny Dumas jumper.
Neither team found much success in the fourth quarter as each team had their lowest output with the Wesmen outscoring UBC 10-8 over the final 10 minutes.
Nathan Yu had ten points off the bench for the T-Birds while rookie
Chad Posthumus added six points and tied for the team lead with seven boards.
UBC finishes the first half of their regular season tomorrow night against the Manitoba Bisons. Tip off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
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