HALIFAX N.S. - The No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds leaned on a dominant third quarter to come from behind and get past the No. 8 Alberta Golden Bears 72-65 in the consolation semifinal at the 2019 U SPORTS Men's Basketball Finall 8 at Scotiabank Centre Saturday evening.
 
It was a rematch of the best-of-three Canada West semifinal series that UBC won 2-1 two just two weeks ago in Edmonton, and UBC got the better of their familiar foe once again thanks to a third quarter that saw them outscore the Golden Bears 26-9 to turn the tide of the contest. With the win, the T-Birds advance to Sunday's consolation final where they'll meet the No. 7 Saint Mary's Huskies.


 
Sharpshooting Manroop Clair made his presence felt in the second half and registered a game high 23 points while Mason Bourcier added 12 points, seven rebounds, and a game high six assists in the win. Grant Audu was effective in chipping in 11 points and six rebounds for UBC.
 
Ivan Ikomey also had his shooting stroke on point in scoring a team high 19 points with help from converting on five of his 10, three-point shots. Brody Clarke added 15 points and matched a game high six assists while Tyus Jefferson offered 12 points in the setback.
 
"I thought our defence led to our offensive points especially in the second half," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "At halftime, all we talked about was being the aggressors on the defensive end, we did a good job of taking away their scorers, they didn't get any second chance opportunities and that led to us getting some scores in transition. They played a tough half-court game against us in the first two quarters and then that freed it up and opened up the court a little bit and our shooters got open a little bit and we caused some problems for them."


 
Bourcier and Audu set the early tone for the T-Birds with a matching seven points each in the first frame. After Jefferson opened the scoring with three-pointer for Alberta it was Bourcier who responded with a trey of his own before following up with two strong drives to the rim to even the score at 9-9. Audu would then drain from downtown to give the 'Birds their first lead of the contest at 14-13 but Clarke answered with a smooth turnaround jumper and two of his five points in the first quarter to give the Bears a 15-14 advantage just ahead of the buzzer.


 
In the second quarter Alberta was able to outscore UBC 23-17 thanks in large part to their 53 percent field goal shooting that saw them hit 9-17 shots and an even more impressive 57 percent efficiency from three-point land. Ikomey was lethal from long distance in hitting all four of his attempts in the quarter including a jump shot in the key to score a team high 14 points in the frame. Ikomey's first trey put Alberta up 24-18, he would follow up with two more trey's to put the green and gold up 31-22 before Jadon Cohee answered from long range for UBC to pull within five points at 31-26. Ikomey's final dagger from distance came just before the break and a 38-31 lead for the Golden Bears. Cohee, Clair and Audu all chipped in with four points each for the 'Birds who missed Grant Shephard's inside presence for the entire frame after the forward picked up two fouls in the opening period.
 

MBB | @ubctbirds outscores @BearsandPandas 26-9 in the third quarter with help from Manroop Clair's jumper at the buzzer to take a 10 point lead at 57-47 @USPORTSca  2019 Men's Basketball Final 8.#ChampSZN #final8HFX pic.twitter.com/AGcFJkysSk

— UBC Thunderbirds / @UBCTBirds (@ubctbirds) March 10, 2019

In the third quarter, it was the T-Birds turn to shoot the lights out as they used an impressive 59 percent field goal shooting to outscore Alberta 26-9 and see their first lead since early in the first quarter. Clair led the way for UBC as he heated up to hit 5-7 field goal attempts which also included draining a three-pointer as part of his quarter high 13 points. The highlight of the frame saw Shephard go sky high for a thunderous dunk to give the 'Birds another emotional lift and a 51-47 lead they wouldn't look back from. Topping it off was Clair hitting a jumper from the top of the key to extend the 'Birds lead to 10 points at 57-47 as the third quarter came to a close.
 
UBC was able to hold on to their lead through a mostly uneventful fourth quarter that saw the bears outscore the T-Birds 18-15. Jefferson added six points for Alberta to push his total to 12 on the night while Clair delivered another six for the T-Birds who secured the 72-65 victory to advance to Sunday's consolation final against the No.7 Saint Mary's Huskies.
 
It will be a very quick turnaround for the T-Birds who will lose an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time and the clocks skip ahead an hour overnight ahead of a 12:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. PT) tipoff and fifth place on the line when they meet a rested Huskies squad at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.