The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER - UBC moved above a .500 record for the first time since the second week of the season as they held out against a struggling UBC Okanagan Heat (3-16), who have now lost six games. The 69-58 win moves the Thunderbirds to 10-9 with just three games remaining.
 
BOX SCORE

Without regular starter Tonner Jackson, the forward minutes were always going to be up for grabs and Tommy Nixon found himself back in the starting lineup, he shared much of the extra time with Harpreet Randhawa.
 
The Thunderbirds came out of the locker rooms hot and jumped out to a quick advantage. Starting guards Jordan Jensen-Whyte and Kedar Wright both knocked down their first shots from beyond the arc and UBC found themselves up 12-4 after just three minutes.
 
The Heat fired back though and had hauled themselves to within one point at the end of the quarter. Mitch Goodwin, of UBC Okanagan, scored six quick points to put his team back within reach.
 
Okanagan were finding most of their success at the free-throw line going 14-of-16 in the opening half. Down six with just two minutes left in the second quarter, a couple of opportunistic steals and solid defence allowed the Heat to break out and score some transition buckets. Level at 31-31, UBC head coach Kevin Hanson called a time-out to stem the momentum swing and help his team refocus.
 
Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball, between them they committed 18 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and this led to 18 points from the resulting changes in possession, seven to the Thunderbirds and 11 to the Heat.
 
The two teams traded points for much of the third before UBC pulled away with a 13-0 run to lead 57-44 heading into the final period. Tommy Nixon recorded a double-double just five minutes into the second half. He finished the game with 15 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.
 
The Heat made a late run to get themselves back to a decent deficit in order to attempt a charge at the lead. They moved to within seven points with two minutes left in the game, after trailing by 16 points early in the fourth quarter.  Just when it seemed like UBC Okanagan might be working their way back to tied score, Isaiah Solomon gambled on defence and made a huge steal before running it back up the court. He was fouled in the act of shooting and knocked down both free-throws to seal the UBC win.
 
The Thunderbirds held UBCO to just 31.1 per cent shooting on the night and outrebounded the Heat by 36-32.
 
Coach Hanson was frustrated by the messy game but pleased to come out with the victory.

"It was an ugly game and a tough one to coach because there was no flow to the game, and there were lots of fouls and stoppages," said Hanson. "At the stage of the year, obviously we're really happy with the win. Ideally at this time of the year you also want to be more worried about a better performance and being good, but we'll take the win."
 
Hanson confirmed Jackson will miss tomorrow's game as well but hopes to have him back at some point before the end of the season.
 
The Thunderbirds and Heat go at it again Saturday night with tip-off starting at 7 p.m. at the War Memorial Gym.