VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds emerged victorious in part one of the battle for the Pacific Division, as they shut down the Victoria Vikes' offence and came away with a 68-52 win at War Memorial Gym on Friday.
BOXSCORE
MBB: T-Birds v. Victoria (Feb. 10, 2012) Gallery
The win pulls UBC level with Victoria at 13-4, meaning the Pacific Division winner will be decided next week when the 'Birds and Vikes reconvene in Victoria for the last game of the regular season.
The 'Birds led from wire to wire, but it was the third quarter that really broke the game open for them. They outscored the Vikes 27-13 in the frame and held them to 3-20 shooting from the field.
Kamar Burke and
Doug Plumb carried the 'Birds early while senior point guard
Nathan Yu struggled through foul trouble. But Yu broke loose in the third, scoring 11 of his game-high 22 points.
"Thats what a great team does," said Yu. "When I get in foul trouble or Doug gets in foul trouble, one of us steps it up, and we're going to need that down the stretch and in playoffs because there's going to be some tough times."
The Vikes were dangerous on the offensive glass all game and particularly in the third, where they grabbed 10 offensive rebounds to UBC's eight defensive rebounds, but the T-Bird defence still proved to be too much, as the visitors only managed two second-chance points in the quarter.
The Vikes ended up with a 46-36 edge on the glass, but you can't blame fifth-year forward
Kamar Burke for that. He recorded yet another double double with 17 rebounds and 17 points on Friday.
"Oh my goodness, I don't know how I did that," Burke said. "17 and 17 - that's big numbers. I just have to keep it up though. We've got one more game."
Burke gave a nod to coach
Kevin Hanson's demanding practices during the week for getting the 'Birds sharp for their biggest game of the season.
"Today we brought it. I give all the credit to Kev because was just demanding so much of us. It was one of the hardest weeks of practice we've had all year."
UBC had 12 steals and forced 25 Victoria turnovers, leading to a 23-13 advantage in points off turnovers. They held the Vikes to 26 per cent shooting for the game and blocked four shots, three of which came courtesy of
Balraj Bains. The fifth-year centre set a new UBC regular season record with his 29th block of the season.
The teams now have a week off to prepare for the final game of the season that will determine the division winner.
"It's going to be an absolute war," Yu said. "UVic is great at home. They probably have one of the best home gyms in Canada West. It's going to be packed for their seniors' night, and it'll be fun to try go and spoil it."
The 'Birds and Vikes square off in Victoria on February 17 at 8 p.m.
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