VANCOUVER – After hitting a late shot to force overtime, the UBC Thunderbirds were able to take advantage of the extra session to head home with a 101-98 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday night in Saskatoon.
 
UBC's Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.) hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 88 with just two seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Morgan would hit again to open the overtime period to give the Thunderbirds a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. The lead was the first for UBC since the midway point of the third quarter.
 
Eighteen-point nights for Morgan, Will Ondrik (Vernon, B.C.) and Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary) helped the Thunderbirds edge the Huskies, but not without a fight.
 
Saskatchewan led by six with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter but UBC's relentless effort to close the gap allowed the T-Birds to leave Saskatoon with the two-game sweep.
  
A series of fouls from both sides made for a nail-biting final 90 seconds, as 13 free throws were attempted in the final 1:16. For Saskatchewan, Chan De Ciman sank six down in that span, with the last one giving his team an 88-82 lead.
 
Off a De Ciman miss at the foul line, Morgan was able to grab the rebound for UBC and that led to a successful jump shot from guard A. J. Holloway (Tacoma, Wash.) to cut the Saskatchewan lead to 88-84.

A Huskies turnover led to a foul on the next possession. Ondrik made one of his two shots from the charity stripe to make the score 88-85, still in favour of the hosts. The Thunderbirds caused another turnover on the ensuing play, giving Morgan the opportunity to hit the game-tying shot from long distance with two seconds left in regulation.
 
Morgan again delivered at 4:09 in OT with another three-pointer, giving the T-Birds a 91-88 lead.
 
A series of jump shots from Ondrik, Jensen-Whyte and Patrick Simon (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) supplied UBC a 99-95 advantage with only 13 seconds remaining.
 
De Ciman immediately responded with three-point basket, putting the Huskies within one and the crowd on their feet.
 
A late foul against the Saskatchewan gave Simon the opportunity to move the Thunderbirds ahead by three. He delivered, nailing both free throws to seal the 'W' for the 'Birds.
 
The Huskies fall to 1-5 with the loss, while UBC improves to 5-1 on the season with the two wins this weekend.
 
De Ciman put up 37 points and went 14-for-16 from the free throw line for Saskatchewan.
 
His second three-point basket of the game at 7:38 of the first quarter brought the Huskies out to an 8-3 lead, but Ondrik responded with a five-point effort to tie things back up.
 
Going long seemed to work for both teams, who each drained three more three-pointers before the close of the first frame, with UBC leading 24-23.
 
A seven-point run for the Huskies pulled them ahead to a 30-26 lead early in the second.
 
Strong defence from both teams midway through the quarter kept things tight, but a De Ciman triple and a pair of free throws from Jonathan Karwacki propelled Saskatchewan to a seven-point lead late in the second.
 
Six points from Luka Zaharijevic (Vancouver) and a three-pointer from Simon with just six seconds left in the half helped UBC retake a narrow 44-43 lead into the mid-game break.
 
Saskatchewan led for the majority of the second half, building its advantage to eight points early in the fourth quarter, and then again midway through the period before UBC made its comeback.
 
In addition to scoring 18 points, both Morgan and Jensen-Whyte each recorded double-doubles in the win with 10 rebounds apiece. Simon chipped in with 15 points off the bench.
 
The Thunderbirds will look to maintain their position atop the Pioneer Division standings when they head to Calgary next weekend to face the Dinos (4-2).
 
The Huskies travel to Langley, B.C. to take on the Trinity Western Spartans on Thursday and Friday.
 
- with files from Daniel Herrick (Saskatchewan Sports Information)