VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds will be back for another shot at CIS gold this season after their 91-73 win over the Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night earned them a trip to nationals and a spot in Saturday's Canada West title game.
The Bears battled UBC closely throughout the first half, trailing just 39-38 at the break with neither team able to hit its stride offensively. Ironically, it was a defensive play that seemed to spark the UBC offence.
Early in the third quarter
Kamar Burke took a charge against Daniel Ferguson, who had been providing the bulk of the Alberta offence. In addition to putting Ferguson in foul trouble, it ignited UBC's three-point shooters, who went 5-for-8 in the quarter to lead the team on a 16-5 run.
"In a game of basketball when there's a bunch of runs and peaks and valleys, a play like that can change the game. I thought that really sparked us," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson.
By the end of that run, UBC led 65-49, and the Bears never came closer than nine points behind the lead the rest of the way.
After a slow first half, UBC sharpshooter
Melvyn Mayott provided two of those three-pointers in the third quarter, and was a big factor in getting the dangerous T-Bird offence rolling.
"In the first half we were 1-for-11 from three and every shot was short. Melvyn had four good looks and missed them," said Hanson. "We just talked about breathing. We were a little over roused to start the game and once we settled down at halftime the guys relaxed a little more. Melvyn subbed into the game and bang - hit his first shot in the first five seconds. I thought that was a play that really turned us and gave the guys confidence."
Mayott finished with 13 points, making him one of five T-Birds to hit double digits.
Josh Whyte led the way with 21, adding 11 rebounds and four assists. Burke had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Ferguson finished with 30 points to lead Alberta. Jordan Baker grabbed 11 rebounds but was held to just eight points on 3-for-12 shooting.
The T-Birds had 14 steals in the game, and outscored Alberta 27-14 off turnovers.
UBC now awaits the winner of the Trinity Western-Saskatchewan semifinal in the Canada West gold medal game. Both finalists get an automatic berth to the CIS tournament next week. The conference finals begin on Saturday at 8 p.m., following the bronze medal match up at 6 p.m., where Alberta will be looking for a CIS wildcard berth.
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