VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team beat the Memorial Sea-Hawks 88-81 Sunday to finish 2-1 at its own invitational tournament, held at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
Fifth-year forward David Wagner (Kamloops, B.C.) led the offensive charge for UBC, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, both team bests, while fourth-year guard Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary) added 18 points.
 
Memorial forward Vasilije Curcic had a game-high 30 points, 12 of which came via the three-point shot.
 
"There are a lot of positives. I thought we adjusted pretty well, and kept them off the glass," said Wagner of his team's 46-32 advantage in rebounding on Sunday. UBC also outscored Memorial in the paint 52-26.
 
Wagner is starting his fifth season with the Thunderbirds. This year, the team features seven members who didn't play for UBC last season.
 
"The thing you're really looking for on a weekend like this is effort, and that was absolutely there," Wagner said. "The rest of it, we can work on execution, we can smooth all that stuff out, and I believe we are going to."
 


UBC broke the game open in the second quarter, going on a 15-0 run over a span of just under four minutes. Liam Dunphy tied the score at 25-25 with a triple. Then the Thunderbirds posted the next 15 points. Forward Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.) went 1-for-2 at the foul line and then added a layup. After that, a trio of newcomers went to work.
 
Guard A. J. Holloway (Tacoma, Wash.), a transfer from Bellevue Community College, hit a pair of free throws. Wing Dominic Gilbert (Sydney, Australia) did the same before hitting a three-point basket, which was then followed up with a triple from rookie guard Taylor Browne (Surrey, B.C.), before Holloway capped the run off with a layup.
 
Memorial reeled off the next seven points and closed to within seven. But the Thunderbirds went on a second big surge, scoring 15 of the next 18 points in a run that bridged halftime.
 
That gave the home side its biggest lead at 58-39, which held up until the final whistle, despite a strong fourth quarter from Memorial, in which the Sea-Hawks outscored the hosts 23-16.
 
The win was the second in three games for the Thunderbirds at their UBC Invitational, a test event for the upcoming CIS Men's Basketball Final 8 in March in the same venue. UBC also beat Guelph and lost to Ottawa. Memorial leaves Vancouver with a 2-1 mark as well after wins over Alberta and Northern B.C.
 
The next game for the Thunderbirds will be on Friday, Oct. 24 against the Seattle Mountaineers, a club team, at War Memorial Gymnasium.

Tournament packages for the 2016 CIS Men's Basketball Final 8 are now on sale. More information is available at this site: http://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/2015/2/25/GEN_0225155411.aspx