VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team lost its opening game at the Las Vegas Hoopla tournament Wednesday by a score of 75-67 to the Arizona Christian Firestorm.
 
Fifth-year forward Conor Morgan and rookie guard Mason Bourcier scored 10 points each to lead UBC. Matt Willkomm recorded 18 for ACU, an NAIA program in Phoenix that competes in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
 
Isaiah Familia hit a pair of free throws with just under four minutes remaining in regulation to give UBC a 64-62 advantage. But the Firestorm rallied to pull off a game-ending 13-3 run to leave with the win.
 
The T-Birds trailed by 10 points on three different occasions in the first half. Geoff Hibbitt made both his free throws with 37 seconds to go before halftime to put ACU up 42-32. But Phil Jalalpoor converted a triple on the next possession to close the gap to seven points, which was the difference at the break.
 


UBC went on a 16-8 surge to start the second half, taking the lead for the first time in the contest on Bourcier's fast-break three with 11:55 to go.
 
The squads went back and forth before ACU's decisive run to finish the game.
 
The T-Birds had a 50-38 advantage in rebounding, and outscored the Firestorm 32-24 in the paint, but also had 20 turnovers compared to ACU's 11.
 
UBC went 24-of-64 from the field (37.5 per cent), including 4-of-23 from three-point range (17.4 per cent). The team made 15 of its 27 attempts from the foul line.
 
The Thunderbirds will face Morningside, an NAIA school from Sioux City, Iowa, Thursday at 2 p.m. PT, to conclude their Las Vegas trip.