Vancouver - A hot first half for the Lethbridge Pronghorns was enough to defend their home court against UBC on Friday, as they shot 61 per cent from the field to take a 15-point lead into the halftime, and they had that same lead at the final buzzer with a 95-80 win over the Thunderbirds.
The Pronghorns got 25 points each of their fifth-year guards, Logan Reiter and Alex Fletcher. Morgan Duce, also a fifth-year guard, added 13, and fourth-year forward Brandon Brine scored 17 as the senior-laden Lethbridge squad had no trouble finding offence against the much younger T-Birds. They shot 55 per cent overall and went 10-for-23 from three-point range.
The game started on a 14-2 run for the 'Horns, 11 of those points coming from Brine and Reiter. The 'Birds did get as close as two points to the lead later in the quarter, down 19-17, but Lethbridge had a huge second quarter, outscoring UBC 21-12 to rebuild that lead and hold on to it for good.
Rookie forward
Harpreet Randhawa had an incredibly efficient night off the bench for the 'Birds, collecting 13 points and nine rebounds while shooting 4-for-4 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line almost exclusively in the second half.Â
Everyone in the lineup managed to mark up the scoresheet for UBC. Every T-Bird that suited up had at least two points and one rebound, and nine different players scored at least six points. But there weren't enough easy shots for them to keep up with Lethbridge's high-powered scoring machine, and nobody really heated up to carry the 'Birds through tough offensive stretches.
Andrew McGuinness was the only other player to hit double digits with 11 points. The 'Birds were a +2 in the rebounding battle and +6 in turnover margin, but shot just 41 per cent from the floor and 24 per cent from three.Â
Lethbridge improves to 12-5 to keep pace in the playoff race in the Prairie Division. UBC falls to 8-9, tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division with Trinity Western, who beat Brandon on Friday night.Â
The T-Birds get a great opportunity to rebound tomorrow night when they head to Calgary, where the Dinos (5-12) are labouring through a conference-high eight-game losing streak, hoping Canada West scoring leader Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson can pull them out of it. The 'Birds and Dinos play at 6 p.m. pacific time on Saturday night.
-30-
