VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team won their final game at the Las Vegas Hoopla tournament, getting past Iowa's Morningside Mustangs 80-75.
 
Fifth-year forward Conor Morgan had a game high 23 points and nine rebounds for the 'Birds while fourth-year forward Patrick Simon added 15 points and five rebounds in the victory. Guard Alex Borchers had a team high 20 points and eight rebounds for Morningside College, an NAIA School from Sioux City, Iowa.
 
It was a very close contest throughout with the teams on even terms 36-36 at halftime, however the Thunderbirds were able to narrowly pull away thanks to some efficient long-range shooting in the second half.


 
Morgan led the way for UBC hitting on seven of his 16 field goal attempts while draining four of his eight three-point shots (50 per cent). Simon was also feeling it from beyond the arc nailing three of his six attempts from distance.
 
The Thunderbirds where also propped up by some spread out scoring from a valuable supporting cast that included third-year guard Taylor Browne and fifth-year forward Luka Zaharijevic chipping in with nine points each. Browne made good on two of his four three-point attempts while Zaharijevic was a force in the paint going a perfect 4-of-4.
 
The Thunderbirds went 25-of-61 from the field (41.0 per cent) including 10-of-31 (32.3%) from three-point range which was the difference in the end. Morningside was only able to respond with 6-of-24 shooting (25 per cent) from three-point land.
 
The Thunderbirds conclude their Las Vegas trip with a 1-1 record and will return home ahead of resuming the Canada West schedule in the new year, looking to add to their eight-straight victories when they visit Lethbridge January 12 and 13.