VANCOUVER - Almost six weeks removed from their first preseason tilt against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA Div I), the UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team continues their preparations for the 2010-11 CIS season with a trip to Ontario over the Thanksgiving weekend.
UBC plays a pair of games this weekend, first on Friday against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks at 4:00 p.m. PT before wrapping up their mini road trip with a game against the Guelph Gryphons at 10:00 a.m. PT on Sunday.
T-Bird head coach
Kevin Hanson, whose squad opens their regular season at home on October 22 and 23, sees this weekend as a good opportunity to get back in the swing of things.
"We have a tough start to our league schedule playing Saskatchewan, the team we lost to in the national final last year, and then going to Trinity Western for two games. We felt it was important then to have a number of games under our belts before that," says Hanson.
"We put together a pretty good preseason schedule. We thought we needed to play tough, physical teams so we decided to take a trip to Ontario."
UBC made their second straight CIS national final appearance in 2009-10, losing 91-81 to Saskatchewan. The 'Birds owned a 25-3 overall record, were 17-1 in conference play, and topped the CIS national rankings in eight of the 14 coaches polls during their run to the title game.
Last season, WLU finished with a 10-12 record in OUA play before defeating Western Ontario 89-70 in their first playoff match-up. They were eliminated by Windsor in the OUA quarterfinals. Guelph finished the 2009-10 season with a 6-16 conference record.
UBC hosts one final pre-season game after their trip east, welcoming the Laurentian Voyageurs to War Memorial on Friday, October 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
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