VANCOUVER – Forward Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.) tied a career-high for points in a single game as he scored 34 to lead the UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team to an 82-67 non-conference victory over the Hope International (Calif.) Royals, the No. 10 squad in the NAIA, in Fullerton, Calif., on Saturday.
 
Morgan made 14 of his 19 field goal attempts, including two of his six shots from beyond the arc. The third-year player also went 4-5 from the foul line.

He also scored 34 points on Oct. 18, 2014 against the Windsor Lancers at the UBC Invitational at War Memorial Gym.

On Saturday, Morgan also had a game-high 11 rebounds while forward Patrick Simon (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) chipped in with 14 points off the bench, while guard Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary) had an excellent all-around performance for the UBC with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
 
The game entered the second half with the score tied 34-34. Tuff Barnes opened the second half with a layup for the Royals, but Morgan answered back for UBC on the other end. Ramon Mejia and Liam Hunt each made one of two foul shots to give HIU a two-point lead, but another Morgan jumper tied the score for the fourth and final time at 38-38 with 17:38 to play.
 
With 16:49 to play, Will Ondrik (Vernon, B.C.) hit three free throws to give UBC the lead. HIU was not able to tie for the remainder of the contest as the Thunderbirds worked their way out to a nine-point lead with 12:46 to play.
 
A layup from HIU's Garrett Neilan and a pair of threes from Jordan Pellum and Bernard Ireland cut the UBC lead to two with 10:22 to play. That was the best rally the Royals could muster for the remainder of the half and the Thunderbirds continued to pull away following a timeout after Ireland knocked down his three-pointer.
 
Coming out of the timeout, Morgan hit two straight jump shots for UBC. The T-Birds then added an 8-0 run, including five straight points from Simon, to build a 70-57 advantage with 5:24 left in regulation.
 
A Morgan three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining gave UBC a 76-60 lead, its largest of the game.
 
The two sides battled back and forth for the lead with neither side able to gain more than a five-point advantage through the opening half. After a jumper from Pellum gave the Royals a four-point lead with 12:29 to play the Thunderbirds went on a nine-point unanswered run to claim a 15-20 lead with 9:01 to play in the first half.

The Thunderbirds shot 51.9 per cent (27-52) from the field, including 38.9 per cent (7-18) from the three-point line. The team also got to the foul line an impressive 32 times, converting 21 shots (65.6 per cent).
 
The UBC defence held the host Royals to 32.4 per cent shooting (22-68). HIU also shot just 5-of-27 from downtown.
 
With the win on Saturday, the Thunderbirds finished their California trip with a 2-1 record after splitting their two games at the Westmont College (Calif.) Tom Byron Classic,
 
UBC resumes Canada West conference play next week with a doubleheader Jan. 8-9 against the Lethbridge Pronghorns at War Memorial Gym. Friday's game will start at 8 p.m., while Saturday's matchup will commence at 7 p.m.

Get your tournament packages to the CIS Men's Basketball Final 8, taking place March 17-20 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. 

- with files from Hope International Sports Information