VANCOUVER -
Josh Whyte's 29-point effort led the UBC Thunderbirds to a 106-75 win over the Manitoba Bisons in game one of their best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series on Friday at War Memorial Gym.
UBC took a 21-point lead into the third quarter, but former T-Bird Sean Maxwell nearly shot the Bisons back into the game single-handedly. He was 4-for-5 from three-point range in the quarter, scoring 14 points in the frame to help cut the UBC lead almost in half.
But with the score 73-61 UBC, Whyte triggered a big response from the T-Birds with one of his many and-one plays on the night. That began a 13-2 run for the home side that inflated their lead up above 20 points once again. The 'Birds led by 23 heading into the final frame, and held the Bisons to just 12 points in the fourth.
UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson worried that his side was too content to let Whyte shoulder the load at times on Friday, and stressed the need for better team effort in game two.
"For a stretch there we started worrying too much about offence and stopped worrying about defence. Josh was getting a lot of touches and a lot of scores, and then everyone else sort of forgets to play," said Hanson. "It's always dangerous when one guy takes over a game that way, so we really want to share the basketball a little bit more."
The T-Birds had a big edge in rebounding (50-31) and turnovers (+9), which helped them outscore the Bisons 24-6 on second chance points and 14-6 on the fastbreak. Despite those advantages, Hanson saw room for improvement in his team's performance, which was sloppy at times and allowed for some Manitoba scoring runs in the second and third quarters.
"I thought we had a lot of mental mistakes tonight and didn't adjust well to the things they did, but overall it's a playoff game and a playoff win, so you have to be happy with that," Hanson said.
Whyte also led the 'Birds with eight rebounds to go with his game-high 29 points. Three other T-Bird starters -
Doug Plumb,
Alex Murphy and
Brent Malish - also hit double digits in scoring.
Kamar Burke, the fifth starter, likely would have eclipsed the 10-point barrier too, but finished with eight points and seven rebounds after early foul trouble cut into his court time.
Jonar Huertas led the Bisons with 22 points off the bench. Maxwell added 18 points and Kevin Oliver had 10.
The T-Birds will look to wrap up the series tomorrow night at 8 p.m., while the Bisons will be trying to ward off elimination and force a game three, which would go on Sunday if necessary.
If the T-Birds take the series, they will host the Canada West Final Four next weekend at War Memorial Gym.
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