VANCOUVER – A huge first half bombardment courtesy of
Tommy Nixon created the gap between UBC and UNBC on Friday night, and the Thunderbirds were able to ride it through the second half to a comfortable 99-79 win over the Timberwolves at War Memorial Gym.
Nixon poured in 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the first half, mostly from behind the three-point arc, where he shot 6-for-8 to get the crowd and his teammates energized. That energy led to a very strong transition game for the T-Birds, who outscored UNBC 14-2 on the fastbreak and shot 54 per cent from the field.
"Lately we've really been so structured, and guys are trying to run plays, but we haven't been loose. Tonight I really thought we were able to get up and down the full court and get some easy baskets which showed in the stats," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "It was a good game for us in transition."
Nixon naturally drew more defensive attention in the second half, particularly around the perimeter, but that didn't stop the fourth-year forward from having a career night, finishing with 32 points and 10 rebounds as well as seven made three-pointers, which is just one shy of tying the UBC single-game record.
"We've been waiting for Tommy to have a breakout game this year," Hanson said. "He had 22 in the first half and obviously was hot, and he was a big spark for us and the guys played a bit looser. I'm really happy Tommy was able to put that together, and I thought he played a great game."
Both teams shot the ball well from range, with UBC hitting 39 per cent of their threes and UNBC knocking down 38 per cent. But there was also a fierce battle under the basket going on at both ends of the floor.
For the 'Birds, it was the duo of
Tonner Jackson and
David Wagner displaying their well-rounded skill sets. Wagner scored 13 points and had four rebounds, while Jackson scored 14 with five boards and a game-high eight assists, including several to Wagner as he showed off his big-to-big inside passing skills.
But the Timberwolves also found some offensive success in the paint, as Frank Olivier Kouagnia, their only player listed as taller than 6-foot-5, bullied his way to 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting, and seven rebounds.
The Timberwolves shot 46 per cent overall, with Charles Barton, Billy Cheng and Jeff Chu all scoring in double digits. But Kouagnia was easily their top offensive option, and Hanson said his team will be studying up on what they can do to slow him down on Saturday.
"We'll watch some tape. They did some good things offensively, and we made some mistakes on our assignments defensively," Hanson said. "When you play that up-tempo style game you can get caught up, and that's why we had so many substitutions going to keep guys fresh, but some of the guys might not be listening in timeouts and they get subbed in and there's no communication. We have to clean up what we did defensively. [Kouagnia's] a load inside there so we have to do a better job on him tomorrow night."
The win moves UBC to 7-8, putting them in a three-way tie for the fourth and final Pacific Division playoff spot with Trinity Western and Mount Royal. UNBC falls to 4-11, still just three games out of a spot, but with time running out, they need to start putting wins together soon. They will look to do just that as they get another crack at UBC on Saturday night, with the opening tip scheduled for 7 p.m. at War Memorial.
