VANCOUVER - It was another classic battle between conference foes UBC and Calgary but an undermanned Dinos squad couldn't quite hang with the no. 2 Thunderbirds who emerged with a 91-82 victory at War Memorial to sweep the weekend series.
T-Bird fourth-year
Melvyn Mayott scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, including nine straight early on to help UBC edge ahead after leading 63-62 to open the final frame.
"I thought Melvyn had a great fourth quarter and that was probably the biggest difference. He came out and made some big shots," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson.
Mayott's personal nine point run had UBC ahead 78-71 with 5:20 remaining in the game before Tyler Fidler and Keenan Milburn responded with back-to-back three-pointers to cut UBC's lead to just one.
Alex Murphy, the T-Birds' fifth-year point guard, then took over as he scored nine of his game-high 20 points to seal the win. A three-pointer from Murphy put UBC back up by four following the Dinos 6-0 run and then he closed the game with six straight points for the 'Birds - a lay-up and four straight free throws.
Murphy was joined in double figures by Mayott as well as fifth-years
Brent Malish (16) and
Josh Whyte (14) and fourth-year
Doug Plumb (12).
Hanson was pleased with the play of his senior group tonight, especially after Murphy and Whyte were held without a field goal on Friday.
"Fifth-years guys aren't going to get shutout two nights in a row. We knew Josh was going to come out and have a better game and down the stretch, Alex was really aggressive and made some big plays," said Hanson. "You need that veteran know how when your team isn't executing the way you want to. That's when those fifth years guys step up and make individual plays and that's what happened tonight."
The T-Birds had to rely on their veterans against a young, scrappy, and hard-working Calgary squad that were battling the injury bug. First-year Matt Letkeman finished with a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Trevor Debolt came off the bench to lead his team with 18 points. Fiddler (17) and Youri Anissovets (10) also cracked double figures for the visitors.
"I thought Calgary, being with nine healthy players, that they played an unbelievable game. Some guys stepped up, made plays, and probably had their best games of the season," noted Hanson. "Give them credit for fighting hard all the way down to the end but I think our depth really helped us when they started to get into foul trouble and a little tired."
There was very little to give between the two squads early in the game, as the Dinos recovered from a slow start to trail just 24-21 after one quarter despite trailing by as many as eight early on. The second quarter continued the back and forth affair and UBC led 43-40 at the break.
The hosts thought they had figured out the visitors early in the third, opening the quarter on a 10-0 run but once again the Dinos responded with a run of their own, coming all the way to trail by just one heading into the fourth.
UBC (14-2) hits the road next weekend to battle the Brandon Bobcats while Calgary (5-9) return to Calgary for a series against the TWU Spartans.
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