The UBC Thunderbirds put forth a determined effort during a thrilling night of basketball in dropping an 88-63 decision to China's men's national team at historic War Memorial Gym on Wednesday night. The sold out crowd with nearly 2,700 fans in attendance was treated to an excellent display of basketball from both squads in the exhibition friendly in advance of the upcoming Pacific Rim Classic.


 
After China won possession from the opening tip off, the T-Birds, who were missing some standout players from their roster, were dogged on defence forcing a turnover and quickly pushing it the other way where first-year forward Grant Shephard opened the scoring with a right-handed layup.
 
After another defensive stop, it was Shephard once again converting for UBC with a similar right-handed layup en route to his double-double that included a team high 20 points and 10 rebounds on the night.
 
China would then respond by scoring six straight points to briefly take the lead before Grant Audu flew through the lane to score the first of his five points in the opening quarter to tie the game at six apiece. The Birds would suddenly heat up from outside in scoring three straight three pointers, beginning with Patrick Simon, followed up by Isaiah Familia and another from Simon giving UBC a 15-13 advantage.
 
The T-Birds would continue to hit from beyond the arc courtesy of Mason Bourcier to give the Birds a 20-17 lead which caused China to call their first timeout. Just before the end of the first quarter it was Grant Audu getting in on the rainmaking with UBC's fifth three pointer of the opening frame to give the hosts a 25-19 lead at the end of the quarter.


 
Simon led the T-Birds in the opening quarter with nine points thanks to a perfect 3-for-3 from the field while Shephard wasn't far behind with six points. Team China forward Shang Gao led the way for the visitors with 10 points.
 
Patrick Simon stayed hot from outside to open the second quarter, converting on his third three pointer of the night while remaining a perfect four-for-four from the field. Shephard would follow up with a silky left-handed drive giving UBC a 30-27 lead before China found their rhythm in scoring seven consecutive points and eventually opened up a 52-40 lead at the halftime buzzer. Junfrei Ren led the Chinese with eight points in the second quarter.


 
Shephard continued to make his presence felt on the opening possession of the second half for the T-Birds by throwing down an emphatic dunk to bring the crowd to its feet while pulling the hosts to within 10 points. Shephard would once again hit the highlight reel not long after going sky high to grab a rebound above the rim and flushing it home for another dunk as UBC trailed 66-48. Shephard paced the Birds with 10 points in the quarter while guard Qian Wu replied with a team high eight points for the visitors who led 71-52 heading into the final frame.
 
The fourth quarter would take the packed house at War Memorial Gym on an emotional roller coaster as fans of both teams found a very easy reason to cheer for the same player. In the late stages, Thunderbirds head coach Kevin Hanson did not miss an opportunity to honour one of his most dedicated players in guard Charles Dai with a chance for a storybook ending.
 
Dai, a Chinese native, was ecstatic with the chance to play on the same court against players he idolized growing up and had shown unbelievable determination in making the T-Birds squad in his third attempt. While he only sees limited minutes, he and his infectious personality are a big part of the team and with 5:43 remaining in the game Hanson subbed in Dai to a loud ovation from the crowd.
 
Just when you thought Dai wouldn't have a chance to shine, he stepped up and took his moment. With 53 seconds left and the Birds in transition, Grant Audu delivered a stretch pass to Dai who had spotted up at the right arc and was unguarded. With the packed house screaming for him to shoot, Dai calmly launched from distance and hit nothing but net, while the crowd responded with its most thunderous reaction of the night.

?? MBB | Highlight of the night? We certainly think so! What a shot by @ChuckDai1031 pic.twitter.com/nY7knnFkA3

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) June 21, 2018

"It's my dream come true," said Dai post-game as fans were swarming around him. "The head coach, the assistant coaches, the players came to me and said 'great job'. I watched some of those players on TV when I was a kid, it's unbelievable. I really appreciate UBC, thanks to my coach, Kevin Hanson for putting me out on the court, and thanks to my guys, my teammates, it wouldn't happen without their support."
 
"I've shot over 10,000 threes practicing for this one shot," continued Dai. "I can't really think about it, it's just muscle memory. It was just amazing. I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life."
 
Coach Kevin Hanson was very pleased to see the dream come true scenario play out for Dai.
 
"This contest was bigger than just playing a game of basketball," said the veteran UBC coach. "This was about a program, this was about a lifetime experience for these young guys. For Charles, he'll never forget that special moment. Three years in a row he tried out for our team, he got cut, he finally persevered and came through, the whole 'Rudy' story is true to form. I'm so thrilled for him and happy, he played against his home country's national team. For him to get into the game, and when he got in, the eruption from the crowd was unbelievable. I got excited for him and when he hit that shot I got up in excitement for him as well."


 
Hanson also touched on the valuable experience as well as lifetime memories gained for his players.
 
"You hate losing basketball games but I thought as an event, it was incredible. For the experience that our university guys got a chance to play against a national team, that never happens in a lot of basketball players' lives, so for our guys to have that opportunity it's going to be a memory for life, it's going to help their development an incredible amount. We're thrilled we had the opportunity to play them, that doesn't come around very often. I'm pleased with how the guys played, obviously we didn't have a full roster but the guys competed hard, played real hard, fatigue factored in at the end and that's a very good basketball team with professional players so I'm very proud of what our guys did tonight."
 
Finally, the thunderbirds most dominant force on the night, Grant Shephard, spoke to the exciting event and opportunity.
 
"It was awesome, obviously it brought a lot of people from around UBC to come out, it was just a good experience, super lively and fun, it was exciting."
 
"We've been working all summer, I've been trying new things, last year I was closer to the basket, now I'm trying to attack off the perimeter, it was good to put it to the test," continued Shephard. "Me personally, I still have a lot of things to work on, our team is really fresh, we have a lot of things to work on, we only had three quarters of our team tonight too. It gives us notice on what we need to work on, it gives us a head start for our competition in-season."
 
Wednesday's tune-up match was a precursor to China taking on Team Canada in back-to-back exhibition games as part of the Pacific Rim Basketball Classic. The first contest goes at Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver on Friday, June 22 before a second engagement in Victoria at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Sunday, June 24.