VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds finished the regular season with their 18th straight win, downing the Victoria Vikes 86-74 on Saturday night in front of a full house at McKinnon Gymnasium.
UBC finishes up in first place at 22-2 on the year, and will take on the 9-15 Manitoba Bisons next week at War Memorial Gym in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal playoff series. The Vikes wind up at 15-9, and will be on the road to play Alberta in their semifinal series.
The T-Birds led from start to finish on Saturday, but really pulled away in the third quarter when they outscored the Vikes 25-14. They benefitted from a balanced attack that featured four players scoring in double figures.
Nathan Yu continued his hot shooting, leading the 'Birds with 17 points while going 3-for-5 from three point range.
Doug Plumb had 16 points,
Josh Whyte chipped in 15 and
Brent Malish had 10.
"Victoria is always a tough place to play and they are one of the more solid teams in the conference, so being able toe execute against them was a good sign for us," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "It was a good test for us because it was a true playoff atmosphere. It was a packed crowd and a very emotional game."
The T-Bird fastbreak had the Vikes in trouble last night and that continued on Saturday. UBC outscored Victoria 15-4 on fastbreak opportunities. The UBC bench was also a big factor, as it has been all year, outscoring Victoria's reserves 31-20.
"The guys are really starting to understand each other's strengths and they're putting each other in good situations on the floor where guys can take advantage of their strengths," said Hanson.
Mike Berg had a game-high 20 points and six rebounds for the Vikes, while Ryan MacKinnon chipped in 18 points and five boards. The two combined for more than half of Victoria's shot attempts in the game.
The T-Birds will host Manitoba on Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27 at 8 p.m., with a third game going on Sunday if necessary. All games are at War Memorial Gym. The winner advances to the Canada West Final Four, which the 'Birds will also host if they get past Manitoba.
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