LANGLEY, BC – The UBC Thunderbirds jumped out to another early lead, riding their first half performance to a 90-77 victory over the TWU Spartans Saturday night in Langley to earn the weekend sweep over their Canada West rivals.
The Spartans came out flying as they took a 6-0 lead in the opening minute and a half but it didn't take long for UBC to get back in the game as they went on a 13-3 run to take a 13-9 lead and, ultimately, an advantage they would hold for the rest of the game.
For TWU, the loss drops their record to 2-2 after starting the year with a pair of road wins against Lethbridge. The win improves UBC's record to 3-1 on the year with its only loss being a 97-96 defeat against Saskatchewan at home last Saturday.
The difference in the game was simple. The T-Birds shot 52.5 per cent from the field while the Spartans managed to shoot just 39.4 per cent.
In the first half, especially, the disparity in shooting percentage was the notable. The Spartans made a mere 31.4 per cent of their field goals compared to the T-Birds 51.6 per cent. The Spartans were also particularly poor from beyond the arc as they went 4-for-19.
While TWU struggled to shoot, UBC's offence, which averaged 92.7 points per game coming in, continued to light it up as they put up 50 points in the first half for a 50-35 lead after 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Spartans improved in almost every aspect of the game as they shot 48.4 per cent from the field, 37.5 per cent from three-point range and 90 per cent from the free throw line.
But while TWU improved dramatically, so did UBC. The Thunderbirds shot 53.6 per cent from the field and 41.7 per cent from beyond the arc.
The improved shooting allowed TWU to outscore UBC 42-40 in the second half but there was no closing the gap that the visitors had built over the first two quarters.
Despite the rally from TWU, the T-Birds never let the Spartans within 10 down the stretch as they were just too consistent and too deep for the Spartans to handle.
British Columbia was led by
Josh Whyte and
Doug Plumb who both had 21 points.
Kamar Burke led UBC with six rebounds.
The Spartans Jacob Doerksen led the team in scoring with 17 points and his nine rebounds tied him for the team lead with Tyrell Mara.
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