VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds swept the Alberta Golden Bears with a 103-68 win in game two of their best-of-three series on Friday night at War Memorial Gym, and will now host the Canada West Final Four on March 5 and 6.
Unlike Thursday's tilt, the Golden Bears showed some fight in the first half and didn't let the CIS number one-ranked T-Birds jump out to a big lead. UBC led by just seven points late in the second quarter, but the depth of the home side proved to be too much for the Bears to overcome in the end. The T-Birds went on a 16-1 run in the late second and early third quarters to expand the lead to 22 points.
They finished with five players scoring in double digits, and 11 of their 12 players got on the scoreboard. UBC's bench outscored Alberta's 58-28. The T-Birds outclassed the Bears defensively as well, forcing 26 turnovers and coming up with 16 steals. They also held the Bears to 38.7% field goal shooting.
"It was all about the defensive pressure and energy, and you could really see our depth again tonight," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "When things weren't going well for some guys we brought other guys in, and a lot of guys really contributed. We say, "know your job, do your job," and a lot of guys really did their jobs this weekend."
Graham Bath shared the scoring lead with
Blain LaBranche, Melvin Mayott and
Nathan Yu at 14 points each, and
Alex Murphy chipped in 10. Bath had an efficient game, shooting 7-for-11 from the floor and adding four assists, and he led UBC with 24 minutes of playing time.
"
Graham Bath is a load when he's on the floor," said Hanson. "He's always bringing a tough game and he is hard to defend. That work ethic is really contagious and we need that this time of year."
The rebounding, like the scoring, was also done by committee for the T-Birds. Murphy and
Kamar Burke led the way with five each, while LaBranche,
Brent Malish and
Kyle Watson all had four.
Jamaal Bucknor led Alberta with 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds in just 12 minutes of action.
With the loss, Alberta's season is over. Meanwhile, as the top-seeded team in Canada West, the T-Birds will host the Final Four at War Memorial Gym on March 5 and 6. They will be joined by the Saskatchewan Huskies, who swept their series against Fraser Valley, as well as the winners of the Calgary-Lethbridge series and the SFU-Regina series.
