EDMONTON - Todd Bergen-Henengouwen tipped in the winning bucket with 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock to lift the Alberta Golden Bears to an 88-86 upset victory over the no. 2 ranked UBC Thunderbirds at U of A's Main Gym on Saturday night.
After seeing a prime chance at an upset slip through their hands with a dreadful fourth quarter on Friday in an 81-76 loss, the Bears (3-1) hung tough on Saturday going toe-to-toe with the T-Birds (4-2) over the final 10 minutes.
Alberta never led by more than one point in the fourth and trailed by as many as five with 1:11 remaining after
Kamar Burke hit a three-pointer to stake UBC to an 85-80 lead.
The Golden Bears fought back with four straight free throws to cut the lead to one before
Brent Malish went 1-of-2 from the line to put UBC up 86-84 late. Ken Otienno replied with a lay-up to tie the game with six seconds left and on the ensuring rebound, the T-Birds could not inbound the ball and turned it over following a five-second violation.
Bergen-Henegouwen made them pay, tipping home a Jordan Baker miss with almost no time left of the clock. The second-year forward led the Bears with 29 points and added five rebounds in the win. Baker scored 17 points, thanks in large part to a 9-of-11 performance from the charity stripe, to go along with 11 boards. Daniel Ferguson paced the Bears early with 18 first half points en route to 24 on the night.
UBC showed good depth on offence with eight players scoring seven points or more.
Tommy Nixon and
Graham Bath led the way with 13 apiece while Burke had a team-high 11 rebounds.
The T-Birds were solid from the floor going 32-of-66 (48.5 per cent) and 17-of-22 from the line (77.3 per cent) but they couldn't match the efficiency of the Golden Bears who finished the night 27-of-54 (50.0 per cent) and were an impressive 26-of-30 (86.7 per cent) at the free throw line.
UBC returns home next weekend to begin a three-week homestead with a pair of games against the Winnipeg Wesmen. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
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