VANCOUVER – On a Saturday night where the Bell NBA All-Star Challenge made its way to the Point Grey campus, the No. 8 UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team fell just short against the Regina Cougars, dropping an 83-79 heartbreaker.
 
A late comeback was for naught, as the 'Birds, down 76-67 with two and half minutes to play, had earned a 79-78 lead with 49 seconds remaining, off eight straight points from Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.). However, a subsequent layup from Regina guard Aaron McGowan put the visitors up for good, before Jonathan Tull sealed the result with three free throw daggers.
 
For the game, Morgan led all scorers with 29 points, adding six boards. UBC also got a solid offensive showing from Phil Jalalpoor (Schifferstadt, Germany), who notched 16 points, making 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jonathan Tull led Regina with 23, while Brandon Tull and Alex Igual provided secondary scoring, each chipping in 14.
 
Just minutes into the game, and knotted up at 6-6, the fans at War Memorial Gym got a flash of some All-Star talent.
 
Slashing his way through the point, UBC guard Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary) flashed some major hops and threw down a vicious right-handed slam. The dunk gave UBC their first lead of the game.
 
With a couple of long twos from Morgan, and a great look from Jalalpoor, the 'Birds quickly built up a 14-10 lead with four minutes to go in the quarter. Then, it seemed that a switch flipped for the Cougars, as they ripped off an 8-1 run to close the frame, including a couple of athletic layups from the 6-foot-1 McGowan, taking an 18-15 lead into the second quarter.
 
Three and half minutes into the second quarter, Regina had stretched their lead to 29-20, off of a couple of careless turnovers from UBC, which proved to be an issue as the game went on.
 
Morgan, who posted seven points in the first quarter, did his best to keep the 'Birds close in the second quarter The 6-foot-9 forward picked up nine points in the period, including five from the charity stripe.
 
The 'Birds got some contributions of the bench with Luka Zaharijevic (Vancouver) picking up four points in the latter part of the frame, and on a last-second pair of free throws from Will Ondrik (Vernon, B.C.), the T-Birds closed the gap to just one heading into halftime, as Regina lead 38-37.
 
For the Cougars, Jonathan Tull became the focal point of the offence in the second quarter, knocking down eight points. Stephen Shields was close behind, picking up five points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field.
 
Coming out of the halftime intermission, Morgan continued his fine form, scoring five of UBC's next nine points in the first six minutes. Unfortunately for the 'Birds, Regina took that time to find their form from distance, with Tull, McGowan, and Igual all knocking down triples.
 
The 'Birds ripped off a 5-1 run in the final two minutes of the third quarter, including a beautiful stepback triple from Jalalpoor, and closed the Cougars' lead to just three heading into the final frame, at 61-58.
 
The fourth quarter started as a three-point shootout, as Regina hit four from beyond the arc in the first seven minutes of the stanza. UBC turned to Jalalpoor to answer in kind, as the German guard knocked down two of his own to keep the home team within striking distance.
 
As close as the game will read on the stat sheet, UBC's head coach Kevin Hanson minced no words after the contest.
 
"It's about the team side of things," said Hanson. "You are not going to win when you get out-rebounded and have 24 turnovers. We have to look at that, because we gave them 30 points off of our turnovers, and that just can't happen. It's all about looking at what we did as a team, and continuing to get better."  
 
Hanson's squad will travel to Victoria next weekend for a pair of games against the Vikes. Regina will travel to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Bisons.