LANGLEY, BC – The UBC Thunderbirds got off to a great start en route to their first win of the 2010-11 season with a 78-67 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans Friday night in Langley.
The loss drops the Spartans season record to 1-2 while UBC improves to 1-2 after losing a pair on opening weekend to the reigning CIS bronze medalist Saskatchewan Huskies.
UBC got off to a quick start as they used their size, largely via
Zara Huntley and
Alex Vieweg, and speed advantage to pressure the Spartans into a number of early-game turnovers that led to a 15-6 lead before TWU was forced to take a timeout just to slow UBC's momentum.
After the timeout, the Spartans managed to hang with UBC but the hosts were unable to put a dent in the T-Birds lead which was 25-15 after one quarter. UBC then opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run that gave them a 17-point lead and, a double-digit advantage they would never relinquish.
The Spartans were unable to sustain much in the way of momentum as the larger T-Birds continued to dominate the boards and hit key long balls and at halftime, UBC led 44-30.
In the second half, the Thunderbirds continued to hit the long-range shots, they made over 50.0% in the game, and extended their lead to 63-42 going into the fourth quarter. TWU made a small push in the fourth quarter but it was too little too late as UBC had already secured a big enough advantage to cruise to the win.
Both teams will be back at the LEC Saturday night to complete the weekend series. Game time is 5:00 p.m.
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