VANCOUVER - The Whitman College Missionaries (NCAA Division III) pulled away from a short-handed UBC Thunderbirds squad in the fourth quarter en route to a 82-72 win at St. George's School in Vancouver.
Graham Bath keyed a late UBC run in the third, making four straight free throws, causing one turnover, and grabbing a pair of boards as the 'Birds took a 58-56 lead into the final quarter.
The visitors, however, opened the fourth on a 7-2 run and never looked back. David Michaels paced Whitman College with 19 points thanks in large part to a 9-of-11 free throw shooting performance. Fellow starters Josh Duckworth and Brandon Shaw cracked double figures with 17 and 16 points respectively.
Doug Plumb paced the T-Birds with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds to go along with three assists. Bath ended the contest with 11 points and
Tommy Nixon had 10, as the T-Birds battled foul trouble late with a short bench of just nine players for this early pre-season tilt. Turnovers also hindered UBC as they committed 36, compared to 24 for Whitman, against the Missionaries full court press.
The first quarter saw the two squads trade buckets with the visiting Missionaries owning a 26-25 after the opening 10 minutes. Plumb was 4-of-5 in the opening frame with a pair of back-door layups as UBC had to navigate a pressure defence applied by Whitman. The Missionaries relied on the long ball, going 6-of-10 from downtown to overcome UBC's 10-of-14 (71.4%) shooting.
The pace barely slowed in the second quarter as the see saw battled continued towards half. Each team put up 19 points in the frame with UBC freshman
Mike Lewandowski pacing his squad's effort with six points and three rebounds. Duckworth came alive for Whitman College, scoring eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and a pair of free throws after being held scoreless in the first.
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