VANCOUVER - UBC head coach Kevin Hanson made history Thursday night in front of friends and family at War Memorial Gym as the Thunderbirds defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 109-102, Hanson's 314th regular season victory, more than any other coach in Canada West men's basketball history.
 
"It's very special," said Hanson after his record-setting win, breaking the previous mark held by former Alberta Golden Bears coach Don Horwood. "There are a lot of great memories in this gym and a lot of great games. The people that have been here for the whole journey are my wife and my daughter so it was very special they were all here tonight."
 
"This is a hard gig," admitted Hanson, currently in his 20th season with the Thunderbirds. "Winning basketball games is a tough thing, anything can happen. It's been a great ride so far and I want it to continue for many more years. I love every second I'm on this floor coaching."


 
It was a tightly contested battle between the two B.C. teams, but the 'Birds now improve to 10-3 on the season as the Spartans fall to 2-9.
 
UBC's Grant Audu, Jadon Cohee and Grant Shephard each put up 22 points in the historic win, while Manroop Clair added 15 points and went 13-for-14 from the free-throw line.
 
"It's a great moment for us," said Shephard on helping earn his coach the career milestone. "It's great to be part of history and that we could pull through for him. We knew they're a hard-working team and they definitely put up a fight. We're going to have to work even harder to get it done on Saturday."


 
The T-Birds were in tough against U SPORTS leading scorer Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath, who poured in a team-high 33 points and recorded a triple-double in the loss. The 6-foot-2 guard shot 52 per cent from the field and added 10 assists and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes. His Trinity Western team scored 13 threes and tallied 23 assists, but got into foul trouble that proved to be costly.
 
With the first half winding down, Gilbreath tied it up at 35-35 with a smooth up-and-under finish before banking home a runner to even it up again at 37-37. Riley Braich hit a three to give the visitors a narrow 44-41 advantage, but Cohee replied with a triple of his own and the two teams went into halftime deadlocked at 44-44.
 
Hanson went to his bench early in the third quarter, and Brian Wallack put the 'Birds up one with a pair of free throws at 58-57. Clair then found a cutting Wallack for an easy two at 62-60. Jonah Morrison extended the lead with a short jumper at 68-62. UBC pulled away late in the third quarter, punctuated by a Jack Cruz-Dumont three to send the home team into the final frame up 76-65.


 
The Spartans made a strong comeback attempt in the fourth as Adam Gehrig cut the lead to five with a contested three at 78-73 and Jack Nadelhoffer grabbed a steal and laid it home, untouched, to make it a three-point game at 80-77. Gilbreath continued to pour in the jumpers, connecting from downtown to keep it a one-possession game at 85-82. Isaiah Reimer then knocked down a triple of his own to knot it up at 85-85.
 
The teams traded blows in the fourth as Gilbreath penetrated and kicked to Gabe Mannes to give TWU a lead at 91-90, but Cohee came right back with a layup to reclaim the lead and the 'Birds never looked back.
 
UBC got the job done from the free throw line making 14-of-16 in the final five minutes of play to secure the historic victory for coach Hanson. The Thunderbirds' 52 shots from the foul line were the most in a game since an 84-83 non-conference home win over Western Washington on Oct. 9, 2004.
 
The two teams rematch on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT at War Memorial Gym.