The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – It was another photo finish at War Memorial Gym on Saturday night with the UBC Thunderbirds again coming out on top, clipping the Manitoba Bisons 67-65 in their final home game of 2013.
 
The Bisons looked dead and buried after Kedar Wright's corner three with 21 seconds left put UBC up 64-58, but a few missed free throws, a turnover, and a pair of clutch Manitoba threes all of a sudden made it a 66-65 lead for UBC.


 
After Tommy Nixon hit one of two shots at the free throw line to make it a two-point game with just over two seconds left, the Bisons still had a chance for a desperation heave, with no timeouts left. But Amir Ali's half-court shot bounced out off the side of the rim, allowing the 'Birds to hang on.
 
After beating the undefeated Winnipeg Wesmen at the buzzer on Friday night, UBC head coach Kevin Hanson worried about how his team, still dealing with several players missing or limited by injuries, would respond to the fatigue factor in the second half of their back-to-back set.
 
The 'Birds put themselves in a tough spot, down nine points heading into the fourth after a brutal third quarter performance in which they were outscored 25-10. But they turned things around in a big way, shutting Manitoba out for the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter as they went on a 13-0 run to take the lead.
 
"The group we started didn't play very well. We really struggled to score in the first five minutes of both the first and third quarters, and that really set us back," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "We weren't playing well and lost our confidence a bit, but in the fourth quarter we found some chemistry going with small-ball with Tommy (Nixon) and Tonner (Jackson) inside."
 
Nixon had a game-high 20 points, mostly at the free throw line, where he shot 11-for-14. He also led the 'Birds with eight rebounds.
 
Jackson, a fourth-year forward in his first season with UBC, barreled his way to the basket for 13 tough points that kept the T-Birds rolling when the jumpers weren't falling. UBC shot just 3-for-17 from the three-point line and didn't hit a three until midway through the fourth, when Nixon and then Jackson each hit one in quick succession.
 
"He brings a lot of experience and a lot of toughness, as he did with some of those hoops he had down the stretch for us, and the big three as well," Hanson said of Jackson, who transferred to UBC from Trinity Western. "He hasn't played much with us yet, and he's in Sauder business school, so he can't practice with us much either. We've had to chance the practice time to 7 a.m. just so he can be there, but he just hasn't practiced many minutes with us. Tonner's still learning what we want him to do, and sometimes he's a bit of a wild guy right now so we're trying to rein him in and have him play within our system, but he certainly makes big plays when we need them."
 
The 'Birds got a much quieter but still effective performance from David Wagner after he scored a career-high 29 points on Friday. He went 5-for-6 from the field on Saturday for 10 points, and he also had two huge blocks in the fourth to energize the team and the crowd.
 
One of his blocks sparked the 13-0 UBC run in the fourth, as he shut down Amarjit Basi's shot on one end and then finished through a double team on the offensive end.
 
Andre Arruda led Manitoba with 18 points. Yigit Ozsayiner had 15 points and six rebounds. Dan Penner scored nine and had nine rebounds.
 
Manitoba falls to 1-7 on the season. They will wrap up their 2013 schedule on the road against Saskatchewan next week.
 
The T-Birds are back to .500 at 4-4, and they will also hit the road to finish off the first half of their schedule against Fraser Valley.
 
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