REGINA - For the third straight game, the no. 2 ranked UBC Thunderbirds eclipsed the 100-point mark as they racked up their 13th straight conference win to maintain control of top spot in the Canada West standings with a 111-67 decision over the Regina Cougars.
It was an impressive team effort on offence Friday night that propelled the T-Birds to victory as all nine players that saw the court scored at least five points. Leading the way was the duo of
Nathan Yu and
Josh Whyte who scored 22 and 21 points each as they combined for a 15-of-24 effort from the field.
That performance was indicative of UBC's success all night on offence as they ended the contest 39-of-63 from the field, an impressive 61.9 shooting percentage. Also hitting double figures was a quartet of T-Birds in
Brent Malish (15),
Kamar Burke (14),
Tommy Nixon (11), and
Doug Plumb (10).
"Nathan was great again off the bench and he's really found success in that role as the first guy off the bench," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "We're down to nine healthy bodies at the moment but tonight, every guy played well and contributed a solid performance."
Marek Downarowicz paced the hosts with 19 points while Paul Gareau and Jeff Lukomski each tallied 13. The Cougars struggled against a tenacious UBC defence and shot 39.3% (22-of-56) from the field and 33.3% (8-of-24) from downtown. They weren't much better at the line, going 15-of-27 (55.6%) , and turned the ball over 29 times in the loss.
It was all UBC early on as they raced out to a 9-0 lead in less than two minutes, as fifth-years Whyte and Malish traded buckets and free throws to pace their squad to a hot start. The visiting 'Birds continued to assert their control of the game through the rest of the first quarter and held the Cougars without a second field goal until the 2:19 mark of the opening frame. By that point, the score was 28-7 and UBC pushed their advantage to 37-10 at the end of the first.
"Obviously we had a great first quarter and that really set the tone for the rest of the night," added Hanson. "Our defensive intensity was really strong all night and I thought
Alex Murphy played just an outstanding defensive game for us tonight."
Regina kept pace with the 'Birds over the middle two quarters, seeing UBC only increase their lead by seven points but in the fourth quarter the visitors out paced the Cougars 24-14 to pick up their third straight win in excess of 40 points.
Regina (12-7), who has already clinched a spot in the CW post-season, has another chance to challenge the first place T-Birds (17-2) on Saturday night. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. PT.
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