VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds narrowly defeated Trinity Western for the second straight night on Saturday, beating their nearby rivals 77-66.
BOX SCORE
The Spartans played the #2 ranked Thunderbirds close for the entirety of the contest, but UBC used an effective penetrate-and-kick offense down the stretch to pull away.
Geoff Pippus (Colorado Spring, Colorado) hit a pair of late threes, both assisted by
Doug Plumb (Pitt Meadows, BC), while
Tommy Nixon (Vancouver, BC) also added one.
For Trinity Western, it was another statement that they will be competitive this year, hanging in with a strong team two nights in a row. Mark Perrin had 16 points despite some trouble shooting, while Tristan Smith added 14 points as well.
Overall, the Spartans shot just 35%, but UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson thought there was room for improvement on the defensive end.
“We weren't very active defensively,” Hanson explained. “We didn't get many steals to lead to transition hoops.”
The Thunderbirds shot 52% from the floor, as
Isaiah Solomon (Richmond, BC) and
Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary, AB) split the point guard duties and took control of the offense well. Solomon added 11 points while Jensen-Whyte had 17.
Plumb paced the team on the boards with 11 rebounds to go with five assists and nine points, and Pippus hit five threes in total to give him 17 points. The team was without injured forward
Brylle Kamen (Paris, France), who is sidelined with a hamstring issue.
The game featured many lead changes, and the Thunderbirds actually trailed 34-32 at the half before a shooting surge in the second half helped them take over.
The win moves the Thunderbirds to 2-0 in advance of their home opener next weekend against Thompson Rivers. While there's work to be done, it remains a solid start to the year coming off a very strong preseason. UBC hosts the Wolfpack at 8 p.m. on Friday at War Memorial Gym.
“We were a little tired coming in, but it's good to win two road games to start the season,” said Hanson.
Trinity Western takes their 0-2 record to Northern British Columbia next weekend.
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