VANCOUVER – Following a home-and-home rivalry series weekend that took the UBC Thunderbirds (12-4) across the water to face UVic in the second of two games the T-Birds next head across the Rockies to Edmonton, AB. where they'll meet the MacEwan Griffins (0-14) for a weekend set. It all begins Friday, January 24 with a 7 p.m. PT tip off before the rematch goes on Saturday, January 25 and a 6 p.m. PT start at the Dr. David W. Atkinson Gymnasium.
 
The teams last met two years ago at UBC where the 'Birds claimed the weekend sweep beginning with a 96-72 win ahead of a 93-66 decision.
 
With just four games remaining in the regular season, UBC comes into action sitting in a third-place tie in the Canada West standings, two points back of Alberta in second spot and four points back of Calgary who occupy first place overall. The T-Birds also enter this weekend with their high-octane offence in form having overtaken Calgary by the narrowest of margins as the conference leaders in points scored per game with an average of 91.8. Even though MacEwan has been in several close games this season they enter play in search of their first win on the campaign.


 

Last Action

 
The 'Birds are coming off a weekend split in their Legends Cup home-and-home rivalry series against UVic that saw each team win in the others home venue. It began with the Vikes earning an 82-73 win at War Memorial Gym last Thursday in what was a frustrating night for the T-Birds who shot just 39 percent from the field while Vikes forward Mathew Ellis broke out for 39 points and 16 rebounds.
 
The T-Birds rebounded two-nights later in Victoria with an improved 55 percent shooting from the field en route to a 87-77 victory. Jadon Cohee set the pace with a game high 29 points and seven assists while fellow fifth-year guard Manroop Clair added 15 points.


 
MacEwan dropped both of their outings last weekend in their home-and-home series against Alberta, beginning with a 105-78 loss at the U of A last Thursday. Five players managed to creep into double-digit scoring for the Griffins led by forward Gregoire Piche-Wint's fifteen points. Two days later it was the Griffins suffering an 85-53 home court loss on a night where forward Luke Harold scored a team high 16 points.
 

Coach's Take

 
"It was really a tale of two different games," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson regarding the team's last action. "On the Thursday night we came out exceptionally flat and didn't play well as a team. There was a lot of things we worked on as a team and for some reason we just didn't play our best basketball. Obviously, we watched video and made adjustments and had the travel day and this year for some reason we've been better on the road then at home, we're still trying to figure that out and maybe that's a little less pressure on the road. We've been better focused on the road and that bodes well for us heading into this weekend."
 
Hanson also looked ahead to what he expects from the Griffins this weekend.
 
"They've played really well against some of the top teams in the conference and coach Mike Connolly is a good friend of mine, we know each other really well and his teams are going to work hard for fourty minutes. In this conference there's a correlation between the level of play a team can provide but records don't mean a whole lot as anything can happen so we're motivating the guys to go in for two tough road games. It's coming to the end of the season and we're still fighting for playoff positioning so that's what our goal is."