VANCOUVER – A 13-0 Eastern Washington run to start the fourth quarter allowed the visiting Eagles to leave War Memorial Gym with a 77-73 win over the host UBC Thunderbirds in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday night.
“The guys didn't quit,” said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. “We made a lot of mistakes. I thought the effort was great. We made a lot of defensive mistakes, things that we had covered in practice but you can't break habits in two weeks of practice.”
BOXSCORE
After a 19-15 third quarter in favour of UBC, the two teams were tied at 56 going into the final period.
But Eastern Washington's Collin Chiverton hit a three-point shot to start the game-changing run for the Eagles, which concluded with a Martin Seiferth dunk with 7:04 left in regulation.
Still, UBC was able to mount a late charge, responding with 15-4 spurt, capped off by a
Brylle Kamen three-pointer to close to 73-71 with 1:03 left in the game. Kamen finished the game as UBC's leading scorer with 20 points and rebounder with 12 boards.
The Thunderbirds celebration was short-lived as EWU's Justin Crosgile replied with a trey of his own with 44 seconds to go to put his team up for good. Crosgile was the leading man for EWU with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes of play.
“I think some of the experienced guys made plays, I think part of our big run coming back was
Tommy Nixon,” said Hanson. “He made a lot of things happen in transition, hitting some threes.”
Nixon ended the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Despite fielding a roster with just five returning players, UBC was able to hang with the NCAA Division I squad from Cheney, Washington.
The Thunderbirds started the game with a 7-0 run and led by as many as nine points in the first but that was the largest advantage UBC would hold on the day as Eastern Washington, giving nearly everybody on its roster playing time, fought back to tie the game at 21 at the end of the opening period.
The Eagles outscored the T-Birds 20-16 in the second to head into halftime with a slim lead.
“We got ten guys a lot of minutes each,” said Hanson. “I'm excited about the young guys. I'm very excited about the potential of what this team could become.”
UBC gave up 25 turnovers, which EWU took advantage of to the tune of 28 points.
The T-Birds did outscore the Eagles 42-20 in the paint.
O'Brian Wallace chipped in with a 13-point performance for UBC.
The Thunderbirds have almost a month before they return to game action. UBC hosts the Bishop's Gaiters on Friday, Oct. 5 at War Memorial Gymnasium in another non-conference game.
Eastern Washington continues its BC tour with a visit to Victoria on Sunday.
