VANCOUVER - Despite an energetic, competitive first quarter of play, the UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball was unable to overcome the Victoria Vikes for the second time this weekend and the Vikes clinched a sweep of the home-and-home series with an 89-73 win Saturday night in War Memorial Gymnasium.
BOX SCORE
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Brylle Kamen recorded a remarkable 18 rebounds and 21 points to lead the Thunderbirds, while both
Tommy Nixon and
Andrew McGuinness contributed 14 points each for UBC. Vikes' forward Terrell Evans shot 100 per cent from beyond the arc (3-for-3) and tallied a game-high 24 points. Chris McLaughlin and Marcus Tibbs also contributed 14 points apiece.
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Victoria broke the game open with a 13-2 second quarter run.
Michael Steele's layup with 5:56 to go before halftime gave UBC a 27-26 lead but Kyle Peterson immediately replied with a three-point basket. After McGuinness scored for the home team, McLaughlin, Evans and Ryan Erikson all scored inside before John Woldu capped off the run with a triple that put Victoria ahead 39-29, and allowed the Vikes to take an 11-point advantage into the half. The 'Birds struggled with turnovers, tallying nine in the second quarter alone.
The Vikes continued to build on their lead in the third quarter, as the T-Birds were down to eight healthy players with
Jordan Jensen-Whyte out of the game due to injury. Halfway through the period, Evans nailed a three-point basket and then stole on the next possession and went in for a slam dunk to put his team ahead by 16 points.
Kedar Wright and Kamen combined for seven straight points after that to cut the UBC deficit to nine but were unable to extend that momentum any further.
UBC saw early fortune, going up 17-9 in the first quarter on a
Bret Macdonald layup. The teams battled back and forth and the Thunderbird defence was effective in shutting down the Vikes' outside shooting, which was a major component of Victoria's success Friday night. But an 8-0 run that bridged the first and second quarters got the Vikes on even terms within the first couple of minutes.
The Thunderbirds will end the regular season with a record of 11-11, good enough for fourth in the Pacific Division while the Vikes finish first at 19-3.
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Canada West post-season play begins next weekend with the quarter-final round.
UBC will travel to Edmonton to face the Prairie Division's top team, the Alberta Golden Bears. The games will be played Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. PT, with a third match, if necessary, at 3 p.m on Sunday. This will be the third straight season the two schools will meet in the quarter-finals. The Vikes will host the Winnipeg Wesmen.
