After beating the Santa Clara Broncos in overtime on Thursday night, the UBC Thunderbirds had the tables turned on them as Santa Clara recorded a close 68-63 win Saturday morning at War Memorial Gym.
The game was in doubt right up until the final few possessions. With 12 seconds left in regulation, and his team up 64-63, Santa Clara's Julian Clarke nailed a wide-open three-point shot from the right corner to seal the win for the Broncos.
The close final score might have surprised many who watched the game's first few minutes. UBC opened the morning matchup on a 15-0 run, powered by
Doug Plumb, who finished the first quarter with nine points.
'We were being really aggressive and we really dictating the tempo of the game on offence and defence,” said Plumb. “I felt we were the ones making scrappy plays and hustling after the loose balls, but as the game progressed, it kind of switched, where they were outworking us.”
Playing time was spread pretty evenly throughout the Broncos roster and Santa Clara slowly fought their way back, narrowing the gap to just 21-14 when Phillip Bach drained a triple right at the first quarter buzzer.
The Broncos continued their good play into the second and closed to within one just before halftime when Raymond Cowells III scored his only bucket of the game – a three pointer. Plumb responded with a coast-to-coast layup to end the half at 35-32 in favour of UBC.
The two teams kept the game close in the third. The score was tied on five occasions and the lead changed hands three times.
But in the fourth quarter, UBC couldn't muster a consistent offensive threat and despite keeping Santa Clara within striking distance, UBC never saw the lead in the final period.
“I thought it was a very, very educational game for us,” said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. “Now they see what they really have to work on, getting a shot off a little bit quicker to defending a little bit more aggressively,”
Hanson said that's especially true with his young recruits and transfers.
“The minutes they played against the NCAA D-1 will help them this year, but it will really help them in years three, four and five, so that bodes well for the future,” said Hanson.
For the second straight game,
Nathan Yu (Prince George, BC) led UBC in scoring with 21 points while
Graham Bath (Langley, BC) added 12.
Today's game was the first that Santa Clara has played on its Canadian tour that did not require overtime. UBC beat the Broncos on Thursday night by a score of 98-85.
Santa Clara finished its Canadian trip with a record of 2-2. UBC won one of its four games against NCAA competition this summer.
UBC's next game will be in October as part of the 2011 Thunderbird Classic.
