VANCOUVER – Another big night from
Tommy Nixon and another dominant effort on the glass got the UBC Thunderbirds back to .500 at 8-8 on the season with an 86-65 win over the UNBC Timberwolves on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym.
BOX SCORE
UBC outscored UNBC 23-13 on second chance points thanks to their 15-7 edge in offensive rebounding. The T-Birds made good use of their size advantage over the Timberwolves all weekend, averaging a +14 overall rebounding margin for the series. That went a long way in getting the 'Birds their first weekend sweep of 2014, and only their second of the season, with the other coming at home against Winnipeg and Manitoba in November.
"We're just happy with the win. It's the first time this year we've won back-to-back in conference. That was important for us, especially on home court to keep the hunt alive," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "I thought the effort was pretty good this week. There were a few momentary lapses, which, as a coach, you pick apart more than other people, but overall I am happy getting two wins."
Nixon stayed hot from three-point range after nearly setting a UBC record on Friday night, knocking down three of four long bombs on Saturday to finish the weekend 10-for-15 behind the arc. He led the 'Birds with 20 points and nine rebounds, giving him 52 points and 19 boards for the series.
This marks the third straight week in which the 'Birds have gotten back-to-back huge nights from a different player. First it was
Brylle Kamen kicking off 2014 with a combined 43 points and 23 rebounds against Alberta and Saskatchewan. Then
Kedar Wright went off for 37 points and eight rebounds against Mount Royal last week, and this week it was Nixon's turn.
"It's been a funny season that way, where there always seems to be one guy who has an exceptional weekend," said Hanson. "It's tough never knowing who that's going to be, but I was happy for Tommy and this was a great weekend for his confidence."
UBC was also buoyed by the young guard trio of
Isaiah Solomon,
Jordan Jensen-Whyte and rookie
Kedar Wright. They all got big minutes, often with all three on the court together, and they all found ways to be productive. Wright had 13 points, Solomon added 11 and five rebounds, and Jensen-Whyte dished out six assists to go with six points and four boards.
Rookie forward
Harpreet Randhawa also had a brief but noticeable performance, fouling out in just 11 minutes of action but playing some tough interior defence and chipping in five points first.
"It was a good win for us and especially for some of the guys who don't usually get all the minutes. Harp was great defensively I thought. He fouled out, but played tough and physical and gave good effort," Hanson said. "We also got to play Kedar, Isaiah and Jordan together a lot and they played great defensively."
Frank Olivier Kouagnia was public enemy number one for the 'Birds once again, as the big man racked up 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting despite being constantly worn down by UBC's physical post defence. He finished the series with a very hard-earned 41 total points on 15-for-21 shooting, not to mention being on both the giving and receiving end of plenty of physical punishment under the basket.
"It was a physical game. It was a different flow to the game tonight, or maybe not so much of a flow, but the physicality was there," Hanson said. "Both teams were fatigued, and when you play a team back-to-back like that you're going to have little rivalries that come up here and there on the floor."
Charles Barton also scored 17 for the Timberwolves to go with his 10 rebounds. Devin McMurtry added eight points off the bench for UNBC, who fall to 4-12.
The T-Birds now move into sole possession of fourth place and the last Pacific Division playoff spot that goes along with it. They are one game up on both Mount Royal and Trinity Western, and one game back of third place Thompson Rivers.
Next up for UBC is a road trip to Alberta, where they will take on 11-5 Lethbridge and 5-11 Calgary looking to push their win streak past two games for the first time this season. The next home action for UBC comes on February 7 and 8 against UBC Okanagan.
