BURNABY - The no. 1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds (13-1) suffered their first defeat of the season, dropping an 82-79 decision to the no. 7 ranked SFU Clan (12-2) Thursday night at West Gym in Burnaby.
The T-Birds couldn't overcome the Clan's hot start and SFU hit a number of clutch buckets down the stretch after UBC made a late charge to take the lead.
Melvyn Mayott hit a three-pointer with 2:19 remaining to give UBC a 78-77 lead, their first advantage since the first quarter.
The Clan responded with their bread and butter, an open look three from fifth-year Kevin Shaw to take an 80-78 lead with 2:07 left.
SFU extended their lead to four on a Chas Kok driving lay-up. Kok led all scored with 21 points on the night thanks to a 9-of-14 shooting performance.
UBC had multiple chances to score on their next possession but failed to convert despite a pair of offensive boards. The T-Birds out rebounded the Clan 35-25, including 14-2 on the offensive glass, but they didn't take advantage, only netting 10 second-chance points.
A steal gave UBC the ball back and Mayott went 1-for-2 from the free throw line with 28 seconds left to pull UBC within a basket at 82-79.
Mayott then blocked a Kok lay-up attempt with eight seconds left but a
Josh Whyte three at the buzzer was no good with the Clan surviving for their 12th win of the season.
"We are going to need to bring more intensity to the defensive end of the floor [on Saturday]," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "We gave them too many open look threes and we weren't executing on the defensive end of the floor."
SFU ended the contest 14-of-24 (58.3%) from three-point land and were a solid 29-of-52 from the field (55.2%). UBC recovered after a slow start to finish the game 31-of-65 from the floor (47.7%) but never found their touch from long range only making 8-of-24 three-pointers (33.3%).
Graham Bath and Whyte each finished the contest with 16 points to lead the T-Birds. Whyte also had a team-high eight boards, including five on the offensive glass, but the fourth year guard did commit six turnovers over the first three quarters. Mayott had UBC's best effort off the bench with 12 points and six boards in 23 minutes.
Sean Burke held a hot hand from long range, making 4-of-7 three-pointers to finish with 18 points for the Clan. Shaw also hit double figures for SFU finishing with 15 points.
The sharp-shooting Clan relied on their precise three-point shooting to take a 13-point first half lead.
UBC went ahead 16-15 late in the first quarter but the host Clan responded with a 25-11 run over the final 12 minutes of the first half to build their 40-27 buffer.
SFU was near perfect from downtown, hitting 8-of-13 three-pointers (61.5%) over the first 20 minutes. Burke was a team-best 3-of-4 from downtown and led the Clan with 11 points at the break.
The T-Birds struggled to find their touch over the first two quarters, finishing the half only 11-of-31 (35.5%) from the floor. In contrast to SFU, UBC couldn't find their range and were just 3-of-12 (25.0%) from three-point land.
The T-Birds and Clan meet again Saturday afternoon at SFU's West Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
-30-
