VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds improved to 3-0 on their current homestand as they used a deadly fast break attack to earn the 84-68 win over the Fraser Valley Cascades on Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
Turnovers leading to easy buckets killed the Cascades' shot at an upset. A strong third quarter had them in contention heading into the final 10 minutes, but they had twice as many turnovers (18) as UBC on the night, and that lead to them being outscored 21-0 on fast break opportunities.
Josh Whyte was a big factor both in generating those opportunities and finishing them. He returned from back spasms early in the first quarter to grab four steals and 21 points.
Three-point shooting kept the Cascades in the game, as they were outscored 47-22 in the paint but managed to connect on 12 threes, and were shooting just under 40 per cent through three quarters before trailing off in the fourth.
"They are a really tough team to guard because they shoot the ball so well from three and a big part of it is dribble penetration," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "They are either getting layups or they're getting threes, and they are shooting them at a really high percentage so it does extend you. They are very disciplined in where they are supposed to be, and they find guys. They share the ball very well."
Sam Freeman and Joel Friesen were 4-for-9 and 4-for-10 from three-point range respectively. Friesen led his team with 21 points while Freeman chipped in 16.
The T-Birds held the Cascades under 20 points in all quarters except the third, including just 12 points in the fourth, but Hanson saw room for improvement on his team's defense.
"Sure we would like to hold teams under a certain amount of points, but what we want is to try to have a good stop every time down the floor and we still have a ways to go in terms of that," Hanson said. "They hit some threes but they also missed a lot of open guys, so they could have had more points if they found those guys in the corners."
The T-Birds were cold from long range in the second half, going 0-for-9 as a team, but they were hot when it mattered. They trailed by three points midway through the second before a 13-4 run turned the game around in a hurry. UBC was 4-for-8 from three in the first half.
Doug Plumb had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds to go with five assists.
Nathan Yu had 12 points and five assists to lead a UBC bench that outscored Fraser Valley's 30-9.
The 'Birds move to 7-2 on the year while Fraser Valley drops to 2-5. The teams will be back in action on Saturday night for game two of their series at War Memorial Gym. Tip off is at 8 p.m.
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