VANCOUVER – The top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (9-0) continued their hot start to the new year with a 92-46 win over the Brandon Bobcats (5-7) at War Memorial Gym on Saturday night.
The T-Birds took control of the contest over the final five minutes of the first half and never looked back. Leading 25-23 midway through the second frame, the T-Birds closed the half on a 19-0 run to take a 21-point lead at the break.
UBC carried that momentum through to the third quarter as they outscored the visiting 'Cats 27-10 to take a commanding 71-33 lead into the fourth. They closed the game with another strong 10 minutes, outscoring the 'Cats 21-13 en route to the 46-point victory.
"[Brandon] came out with their full court pressure at the beginning and tried to slow the game down a bit. We missed some defensive assignments early on but our group made some pretty good adjustments in the second, third, and fourth quarter," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "I liked how our guys really stepped up and changed their mindsets after the first quarter to get a lot of defensive stops. Offensively we didn't run much structure but our guys were aggressive and it paid off."
Much like the women's result earlier, tonight marked the male T-Birds biggest margin of victory this season. They finished the game shooting 51.4% (37-of-72) from the floor with their 25 assists tying a season-best set last night against Regina.
UBC had eight players finish with eight points or more and all 12 players who saw the floor pulled down at least two boards as UBC out rebounded the 'Cats 51-33.
Denny Dumas came off the bench to lead UBC with 12 points and guard
Nathan Yu had a team-high eight boards, including four on the offensive glass.
Kamar Burke continued his stellar play in the second half of the season with a 10-point, four rebound, three assist performance that included a pair of highlight reel dunks.
Midway through the third frame Burke was on the end of a precise passing play that broke down the 'Cats full court pressure and ended with him slamming home a
Josh Whyte alley-oop. UBC's next basket came after Burke stole the ball on defence and went the length of the court for a big two-handed slam.
Dany Charlery, a 2008-09 All-Canadian with the Bobcats, came into the game ranked second in league scoring at 21.6 points per contest but he picked up just nine on Saturday before leaving midway through the third quarter with an apparent leg injury and the game out of reach.
In his absence, the 'Cats struggled offensively making just 30.5% of their field goals (18-of-59). Kyrie Coleman led the visitors with 13 points and added a game-high nine rebounds.
UBC led 19-15 after one quarter but the Bobcats closed the deficit to 25-23 at the 5:02 mark of the second frame on a Coleman layup before the T-Birds' big run kept their record unblemished in 2009-10.
The T-Birds are at home next weekend against Pacific Division rival UFV (6-4). The 'Cats are also on home court as they play host to the Lethbridge Pronghorns (5-6).
