VANCOUVER – For the fifth time in the last six games, the No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (15-1) overcame a sluggish start to earn a hard fought victory, this time downing the Victoria Vikes (8-8) 78-72 at home on Friday night.
The T-Birds, who haven't had a half-time lead in a game since January 15, broke away from the Vikes late with 12-7 run over the final four and a half minutes to move within one game of clinching first overall in the Canada West and Pacific Division. UBC needs one win over their final two games, or an SFU (13-3) loss, to secure home court advantage throughout the post season.
UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson, who earned his 500th win as a collegiate/university coach with tonight's victory (261 at Langara College and 239 at UBC), is still trying to find answers to the T-Birds early game struggles.
"We're trying to search for reasons why we are starting off games a little bit sluggish. We changed up the personnel at the start of the second half and I thought helped us get a bit of a run," said Hanson.Â
Tied 32-32 at the break, the T-Birds used an early 6-0 run and then a 9-2 spurt to lead 47-40 midway through the third frame. The Vikes, however, responded with a late run of their own and slowly worked their way back into the game. Pierce Anderson tied the game at 57-57 with one second left in the third on an old fashioned three-point play.
UBC took a quick 62-57 lead in the fourth, but Vikes standout Jeff Cullen responded with a three-pointer to cut the lead to two.
Victoria got to within one midway through the quarter but a
Melvyn Mayott lay-up, his sixth and seventh points of the quarter, had UBC ahead 68-65 with 4:18 to play.
Kyle Watson followed with a lay-up on the T-Birds next possession, the first of his six points in the final four minutes, to give UBC a five-point advantage which was just too much for the Vikes to overcome.
Cullen led all scorers with 24 points and added three assists.
"[Jeff] Cullen had a really strong start for them and we put Melvyn on him to try and slow him down," said Hanson. "I think he was pretty effective for the most part."
Watson and
Josh Whyte led the T-Birds with 13 points apiece. Whyte, for the second game in a row, scored all his points in the second half after spending considerable time on the bench in the first half with two fouls.
Early on it was
Kamar Burke (11 points, 11 rebounds) and
Brent Malish (12 points, eight rebounds), who kept the T-Birds in the contest as UBC struggled early.
The Vikes closed the first half on a 11-5 run to lead 15-9 after 10 minutes of play. UBC shot just 3-of-13 (23.1%) from the field through the first quarter.
Burke and Malish woke up in the second and combined for 17 points to help the T-Birds climb all the way back to a level playing field.Â
Cyril Indome made it 17-9 for the Vikes early in the second quarter but Burke made it 20-14 for the visitors with just under seven minutes left in the frame.
After a T-Bird defensive stop, Burke found
Alex Murphy wide open for a three pointer to cut the Victoria lead to three. Malish and Burke then scored 10 of UBC's final 12 points in the half and a pair of free throws from Burke leveled the game 32-32 just before the break.
Despite the win, Hanson still has reservations about the T-Birds play from start to finish.
"It has been a long time since we played a good 40-minute basketball game," noted Hanson. "Not taking anything away from anyone that we've played but from an execution stand point on both sides of the basketball, we are concerned that we're not playing the way we should be at this time of year."
One positive sign for the T-Birds was their success from the line, as they went 28-of-33 (84.8%) from the charity stripe after struggling in 2010 to convert their opportunities.Â
Neither team had much success otherwise on offence, as the Vikes were 25-of-71 (35.2%) from the field including 4-of-20 (20%) from downtown. UBC was not much better, ending the contest 23-of-59 (39%) and 4-of-15 (26.7%) from three point land.
The two BC schools meet again Saturday night in Vancouver. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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