VANCOUVER – For the second straight night,
David Wagner (Kamloops, BC) led the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds to a road victory over UBC Okanagan in Canada West men's basketball action.
Wagner scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in an 81-66 win for the visitors, who extend their winning streak to eight games. Wagner hit 12 of his 15 shot attempts on Saturday night. He had 20 points last night.
“We have a few guys that are really battling the flu bug right now so at times we were quite lethargic,” said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. “
David Wagner played very well for us in both games. O'Brian (Wallace) got hot at the right time and sparked us to go on a nice run.”
BOX SCORE
UBC trailed 22-15 early in the second quarter but Wagner's layup at 7:34 started an extended 26-6 T-Birds' run, capped off by an
O'Brian Wallace (Toronto, ON) three-point basket, which stretched into the early moments of the third quarter.
A minute and a half into the third, what was a seven-point deficit was now a 13-point advantage (41-28) for UBC.
The T-Birds maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game, except when a pair of Mitch Goodwin free throws brought UBCO within eight points (60-52) with 7:49 left in regulation, but Wallace nailed a jump shot on the ensuing possession to put the UBC lead back to 10. Wallace ended the game with 17 points.
“In the fourth quarter they shot a lot of free throws, which slowed the game down,” remarked Hanson. “Throughout the game, we executed well and got better looks than we did last night. We shared the ball better and this is something we are going to have to continue.”
Senior guard
Doug Plumb helped the UBC cause with 19 points and seven rebounds.
The T-Birds out-rebounded the Heat 41-32 and shot 51.8 percent (28-54) from the field. They held the hosts to just 32 percent (20-62) shooting.
UBC, now with a record of 14-2, will return home for a two-game set against Mount Royal at War Memorial Gymnasium.
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