VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds and Fraser Valley Cascades showed off their long-range weapons on Saturday night, combining for 25 three-pointers in the T-Birds' 96-82 win at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds built a big lead with a rock solid defensive first quarter when they outscored the Cascades 28-9, and held it throughout the game. It wasn't easy though, as they had to fight off several surges by the Cascades' sharpshooters, who were hitting just about everything from the three-point line. Zeon Gray led the assault with a game-high 26 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting, with his only miss coming on a desperation attempt with the shot clock expiring.
"In the first quarter we were denying the basketball and defensively we listened to the game plan and executed it well," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "In the second half we didn't execute, but even so they played a great offensive game and hit a lot of tough shots. Pull-up threes are tough to defend but you have to be able to do it in this league."
The T-Bird lead swelled to 22 points early in the second half before the monsoon of threes began for Fraser Valley. They hit 10 of their 13 threes in the second half and shot 58.8 per cent from deep in the final two quarters. Sam Freeman and Joel Friesen led the visitors on a 10-2 run midway through the third quarter that cut the T-Birds lead to 10. The 'Birds responded with an 11-1 run though to rebuild the lead. The teams traded scoring runs for the rest of the night, and the Cascades pulled to within 10 again late in the fourth, but that was as close as they got.
Not to be outdone by Fraser Valley's three-point prowess, the T-Birds hit 12 of their own in the game while shooting 48 per cent from behind the arc.
Melvyn Mayott was 4-for-6 from deep, finishing with 16 points.
Josh Whyte led the 'Birds with 20 while chipping in five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Former Cascade
Doug Plumb also had a strong outing for the 'Birds with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
"He's doing a lot of good stuff for us," said Hanson. "He rebounds the basketball and he's aggressive going to the hoop. It was a really good pick up for us the way he's fitting in with our guys and he makes things happen on the floor."
Ryan Fahandeg had 15 points and five rebounds for the Cascades. Friesen had 14 points and eight rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth.
The T-Birds are now tied for the conference lead at 8-2 on the year, while the Cascades drop to 2-6. UBC will look to stay perfect on their current homestand when they wrap it up next week against the 3-7 Lethbridge Pronghorns. Games are at 8 p.m. on November 26 and 27.
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