CALGARY- For the second straight night the UBC Thunderbirds (12-1) managed to take down the Mount Royal Cougars (7-7), this time 88-79.
Despite fouling out late in the contest, Connor Morgan was the best player on the court for the visitors, going 4-5 from the 3-point line and finishing with 24 points.
Brett Layton had a monster effort for the Cougars, making 15-18 field goals for a game high 31 points.
UBC Head Coach
Kevin Hanson was quick to praise a player who didn't have the most eye-popping stat lines in his team's two game sweep of the Cougars.
"Will Ondrick, I though was absolutely our heart and soul this weekend," said Hanson. "What he did defensively against some of their best players was a testament to him as a competitor. He was outstanding for us and really set the tone."
Morgan appeared to be on his game early, making two 3-pointers and putting up 10 points in just the first five minutes of the game.
Trying their best to contain Morgan on one end, the Cougars would make eight straight points to take a one point lead before Morgan would make his third 3-pointer of the quarter to put his team up 20-18.
UBC would finish the quarter on a 9-2 run, making 5-9 of their 3-point field goals in the quarter to take a 29-20 lead into the second quarter.
The Thunderbirds continued to do their damage from the perimeter, extending their lead to as much as 15 before the Cougars began a run of their own to put the score back to 42-33.
The first half would close with the Thunderbirds up 51-37, with Connor Morgan leading the game with 17 points to go along with 6 rebounds.
Early in the third quarter Brett Layton would draw a foul on Morgan that proved to be costly. Already making his third foul in the opening minute of the second half, he would be forced to the bench as Layton would make five straight points, forcing a Thunderbird timeout.
With Morgan still out of the game, the Cougars would pull within 8 points as Glen Yang and Brett Layton played key rolls in making the game 58-50 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The third continued to belong to Layton. Over the next two minutes he would score six more points to pull the Cougars within five points. Through three quarters Layton was an impressive 12-14 with a game high 25 points.
Morgan, the Thunderbirds most valuable player, would end up missing the entire third quarter as the Cougars would go into the fourth just six down with the score 66-60.
Morgan would enter back into the game in the fourth, quickly making his presence felt with a quick bucket to put his team back up eight.
The Cougars couldn't find an answer to Morgan's offense, and quickly found themselves back down 13 with four minutes remaining in the contest.
The Cougars were given light shortly after when Ryan Cunningham put up a three pointer and was hit by Morgan. Not only did Morgan foul out on the play, but the 3-pointer also went down. Cunningham would complete the four point play moments later putting his team within nine.
The Thunderbirds played resilient defense and wouldn't let the Cougars get within that 9-point margin, with the Thunderbirds winning their second straight, this time by a score of 88-79.
"It's very positive anytime you get two road wins at this time of the year," added Hanson. "Now we're coming home for the next two weekends and that's exciting for us."
The Cougars will be back in action next weekend when they pay visit to Saskatchewan for a weekend set against the Huskies. Meanwhile the Thunderbirds return home to play the Brandon Bobcats.
