VANCOUVER - It wasn't their strongest offensive performance, but a few timely three-pointers from
Nathan Yu were enough to help the UBC Thunderbirds grind out a 74-63 win over the Calgary Dinos on Friday to extend their win streak to nine games.
The 'Birds and Dinos battled neck-and-neck for much of the third quarter, and were tied at 37 until Yu hit his first of four three-pointers in the second half. That gave the home side a lead it would hold on to for the rest of the night, as Yu's long-range shooting provided the spark the 'Birds needed to finally pull away in the third quarter and hold off the visitors in the fourth.
"We were struggling at 1-for-9 in the first half from the three-point line, but [
Nathan Yu] came in and hit a couple shots, and the three point shot changes the game so much when you hit a few and get on some runs," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "I think he hit a couple crucial ones that got us up double digits and relieved some of the pressure offensively."
An impressive rebounding effort, particularly on the offensive glass, helped the 'Birds hang with the Dinos when their shots weren't falling. They finished the game with a 48-34 edge in rebounding, including 21 offensive boards to Calgary's five, to overcome a 34.2 per cent shooting performance.
"We missed a lot of layups and our rebounding was what kept us in the game," said Hanson. "Our defence wasn't bad tonight but the offence certainly needs some work."
Calgary wasn't helped by the fact that Canada West rebounding leader Tyler Fidler was limited to five minutes of action in the first half because of two early fouls and an injury. He went down late in the second quarter along with teammate Jared Ogungbemi-Jackson on the same play, and although he returned to start the second half, Ogungbemi-Jackson sat out the rest of the game after a hot start offensively.
"They played really well early in that game and Jared was playing the best that I've seen him to start a game, so when he went down it was a big adjustment for them," said Hanson.
Fidler still managed to pull down nine rebounds and lead his team with 13 points in limited action, but he was the only starter to hit double digits in scoring for Calgary. Philip Labongo and Matt Letkeman chipped in 11 and 10 off the bench.
The T-Birds relied on offence from their bench too, with just two starters scoring in double figures.
Brent Malish had 13 points and
Kamar Burke scored 11, but their fearsome guard duo of
Josh Whyte and
Alex Murphy was held in check offensively. Yu's 19 points off the bench were a game-high, and
Doug Plumb also came off the bench to chip in 13.
The T-Birds' ninth straight win came on the night they officially dedicated the Marlowe Hanson Memorial Men's Basketball Award, to honour and remember
Kevin Hanson's father who passed away in October 2010.
The win moves them to 13-2 on the year, keeping them on pace with Trinity Western at the top of the conference. The Dinos fall to 5-8, and will be out for some revenge tomorrow night when they wrap up their series with UBC at War Memorial Gym. Game time is 8 p.m.
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