EDMONTON, AB - In a consistently back-and-forth affair between two evenly-matched teams, the No.8 Alberta Golden Bears grabbed game one in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series against the No.7 UBC Thunderbirds, earning a 79-69 victory Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
BOXSCORE
Senior guards
Kamar Burke and
Doug Plumb topped the UBC leaders, Burke notching 17 points and nine rebounds while Plumb netted 15 points, including three treys. Sophomore forward
Tommy Nixon added 10 points in the loss.
Alberta leading scorer Daniel Ferguson had a game-high 25 points, but it was third-year forward Sahr Saffa who had the biggest impact, putting 23 points on the board for the Golden Bears, a career high in Evergreen and Gold silks. All-time Alberta rebound leader Jordan Baker had a double-double, chipping in 13 boards to go with 15 points.
"Foul trouble to our key guys was a huge factor in the game," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "Our key guys were called for fouls early and so our regular rotations were forced to change. This also forced us to play more zone than normal, just so we could keep guys in the game. From a defensive standpoint we have to do a better job on their scorers. They were able to get their key guys the ball where they wanted to. They executed well and made plays."
After a layup by Burke on the first play of the game, the Golden Bears replied with a 7-0 run, only to have the T-birds counter with an 18-2 run in a three-minute span and taking a 20-12 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Yet another momentum swing yielded a 16-0 run by the home team to reclaim the lead, but UBC kept things close and the two squads were about to enter halftime deadlocked at 32, but Saffa sunk a long-distance shot with just three seconds left on the clock.
Starting the second half, the Bears and T-birds continued to battle, the lead changing four times before Edmonton native Saffa took charge, highlighting a 19-5 run with a big mid-court steal from Plumb, charging into the paint before outwaiting his coverage and putting a deuce off the glass for a 60-47 Alberta lead at the end of the third.
The resilient UBC squad didn't give up, however, Richmond, BC native
Nathan Yu quieting the home crowd by smoothly maneuvering through the Alberta defence as the Thunderbirds reduced the deficit to a single point.
Ferguson replied with a couple of free throws, going an impressive 13-14 from the charity stripe on the night, before Plumb reasserted UBC's tenacity with a layup, but the senior Bear had the last word, draining a trey from the top of the key for a 71-67 lead with two minutes left to go.
Fifth-year Matthew Cardoza tallied the next five points, punctuating his efforts with a tremendous two-handed dunk to cement the win.
Game two of the best-of-three series goes Saturday, tip-off at 6 p.m.
The game will be broadcast live on
Canada West TV.
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