VANCOUVER – UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball head coach Kevin Hanson became the school's all-time overall wins leader today after his team defeated the University of Guelph Gryphons 77-69 in a non-conference game in Guelph, Ont.
 
Hanson, a graduate of Delta's Seaquam Secondary School, now owns 338 wins, one more than the late Dr. Peter Mullins.
 
"It feels great to be part of the history of the UBC basketball program. It has been an honour to play and coach here," said Hanson, who was a star player at UBC and helped captain the 'Birds to the 1987 Canada West championship. He played at Langara College before coming to Point Grey.
 
"I had the privilege of being recruited by Peter Mullins as a high school player and have been extremely fortunate to have been coached by some of B.C.'s greatest coaches. There have been many coaches that have provided opportunities for me to play and to coach. I specifically want to thank Bill Stebbings, Duncan McCallum, and Bruce Enns for influencing me and guiding me through life as a player and as a coach."
 
After he finished playing basketball, Hanson turned to coaching and was an assistant at Simon Fraser University, Langara College and UBC before becoming the head coach at Langara. After leading the Falcons to two CCAA national championships, Hanson came back to UBC to serve as bench boss, beginning in the 2000-01 season, and is now in his 15th campaign with the Thunderbirds.
 
He amassed 261 victories as the coach at Langara, which means Hanson is also on the verge of another special milestone. He has 599 career victories and could reach 600 next weekend, when his squad travels to Oregon for two games. UBC plays Northwest Christian University in Eugene on Halloween night at 7 p.m. and Concordia University in Portland on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.  

In Sunday's victory over Guelph, guard Jordan Jensen-Whyte scored 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists. He made 13 of his 14 shots from the free throw line.

Forwards Tonner Jackson and Brylle Kamen both notched 15 points. The Thunderbirds were down 25-19 after the first quarter but fought back to tie the game at 37-37 going into halftime.
 
Guelph's last lead was 50-48 with 2:36 to go in the third. The Thunderbirds then went on a 13-1 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters, capped off by a Conor Morgan jumper with 7:37 left in regulation. It gave the visitors their first double-digit lead of the game, which they were able to protect to the final whistle for their fourth victory of the preseason against university competition.
 
The next home games for UBC will be the Canada West regular season-opening series Nov. 7-8 against the University of Victoria Vikes at War Memorial Gymnasium.