VANCOUVER - Led by a huge effort from their fifth-year seniors, the UBC Thunderbirds won the Canada West championship on home court on Saturday, downing the Saskatchewan Huskies 107-100 at War Memorial Gym.
A 9-2 UBC run put the 'Birds up 83-74 early in the fourth, and near-immaculate free throw shooting from
Alex Murphy was the difference down the stretch. Every time the T-Birds appeared to be pulling away, Saskatchewan's dangerous guard duo of Rejean Chabot and Jamelle Barrett seemed to have an answer to keep the Huskies in the game, but they were unable to close the gap entirely thanks to Murphy's 22-for-23 effort from the charity stripe.
"What an unbelievable performance," UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson said of Murphy's effort in his last home game as a T-Bird.
UBC hit 34 of 40 free throw attempts on the night to prevent the Huskies from gaining ground in their comeback effort. Murphy finished with 34 points, eight assists and four steals. Fellow fifth-years
Josh Whyte and
Brent Malish had 19 and 14 points respectively.
Barrett and Chabot certainly didn't make it easy on the 'Birds though. Chabot picked up 29 points and Barrett poured in a game-high 35 to go with seven assists.
"I was going to see if we could sub a sixth guy on to stop [Barrett's] penetration," Hanson joked. "He was single-handedly keeping them in the game. We tried to double team him but he got through double teams and he got through triple teams. I was running out of ideas as a coach for what to do with him."
Both sides ended up shorthanded due to foul trouble late in the game. Trevor Nerdahl and Nolan Brudehl both fouled out for the Huskies, while UBC was without big men
Balraj Bains and
Kamar Burke down the stretch, forcing them to go with an all-guard lineup.
"We ended up going small ball at the end with five guards playing out there. We adjusted quite well and I thought it was a sign of our depth that guys just adapted to their new roles," Hanson said.
The T-Birds outscored the Huskies 23-9 in the first quarter before the visitors shot their way back into contention in the middle quarters. They got to within a point of the 'Birds late in the third, and were as close as two points several times in the fourth, but never held a lead all night.
Both sides will make the trip to Halifax next weekend for the CIS tournament. The Huskies beat UBC in last year's Canada West Final Four before downing them in the national title game as well, but this time the 'Birds have the momentum heading into nationals.
Seeding for nationals will be announced on Sunday. The CIS tournament runs from March 11-13 in Halifax.
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