VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team got 15-point performances from forward Conor Morgan (Victoria) and guard Kedar Wright (Toronto), but dropped a 73-64 decision to the host Hawaii Pacific Sharks in a non-conference men's basketball game at Honolulu's Moanalua High School on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Guard Andrew McGuinness (North Vancouver) hit a pair of triples as part of an 11-3 run that gave UBC a 30-23 lead, its biggest of the game, with 3:06 left in the first half.
 
But Hawaii Pacific outscored UBC 27-11 over the next 11 and a half minutes to take a nine-point advantage, a lead that it wouldn't surrender.
 
After that, the T-Birds got to within four points on a pair of occasions. Tommy Nixon's (Vancouver) steal led to a Morgan jumper midway through the second half to close to 52-48. Then with 3:57 left in the game, Calgary native Jordan Jensen-Whyte's foul shot made it 65-61, but UBC never got closer.
 
Nixon and McGuinness chipped in with 11 points each. Nixon also led UBC with nine rebounds.
 
The Thunderbirds made 23 of their 54 shots from the field (42.6 per cent), while the Sharks were 27-of-58 (46.6 per cent). They also won the rebounding battle 40-34. From behind the three-point line, UBC was 5-of-22 (22.7 per cent) and HPU was 9-of-16 (56.2 per cent).
 
The 'Birds will finish their trip with a January 2 scrimmage against the Hawaii Selects, a team made up of former collegiate players.