The No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds hit the road for the first time in 2019 as they'll head up the highway to Langley BC this weekend to visit the Trinity Western Spartans for back to back meetings.
 
It begins on Friday, January 11 with a 8:00 p.m. tipoff followed by a 7:00 p.m. start on Saturday, January 12 at the Langley Events Centre.
 
It will be the first regular season meeting between the two schools in over a year, dating back to late November 2017 when the 'Birds earned consecutive victories of 118-65 and 84-76 at War Memorial Gym.
 

MBB | Huge dunk for the fans by @Grant_S99, as @ubctbirds finish the opening quarter with a 19-10 lead vs. @UBCOHeat!#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/qIBem1Eobn

— UBC Thunderbirds / @UBCTBirds (@ubctbirds) January 6, 2019

 

Last Action

 
Coming out of the holiday break the T-Birds (11-1) extended their winning streak to 10 straight games by opening the 2019 Canada West portion of the schedule with convincing back to back victories over UBC Okanagan by scores of 100-29 and 103-69.
 
The Spartans (0-12) remain in search of their first win of the season after dropping two decisions last weekend against the visiting Winnipeg Wesmen, falling by scores of 105-97 and 83-55.


 

Players to Watch

 
Grant Shephard – (#10, F) The Second-year forward combined for 38 points and 15 rebounds to help the T-Birds sweep the Heat last weekend. This included Shephard delivering some highlight reel dunks while registering his first double double of the season on Saturday in scoring 19 points while collecting 10 rebounds. Shephard currently sits fifth in the conference in total blocks as well as offensive rebounds, while leading the Canada West with a 64.3 field goal percentage.
 
Mason Bourcier – (#13, G) The Second-year guard combined for 28 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds which included a double double on Saturday evening scoring 16 points while dishing out 10 assists. Bourcier currently sits third in the conference in average assists per game with 5.7.


 

Coach's Take

 
"It was nice to get back on the court and get at it and play a competitive game," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson in regards to getting back regular season action last weekend following the holiday break. "It's such a big break that it's almost like a mini training camp and playing at home that first weekend in a friendly environment so it was a good opportunity for us to get some of the rust off. I thought we played well and certainly showed some big signs and great individual play and the thing I like is that guys are really bonding well right now and getting confident in what we're doing."

Hanson also looked ahead to what he expects from visiting the Spartans this weekend.
 
"Trinity always battles hard, some of their scores are not indicative of what the results could have been," added Hanson. "They had a 37 point fourth quarter last Friday night and were only down a couple at halftime so on the video we've watched they certainly have their highlights, they've got a couple guys that can really score well and they're one of the bigger teams in the conference. In this conference in this age of athletes scores are not the greatest predictor of how good a team is or can be, so we're really focusing on ourselves, I think we're playing pretty well, we're confident and the guys are looking forward to competing on the weekend.