VANCOUVER – Following a bye-week The UBC Thunderbirds (14-4) get back to action hosting the Winnipeg Wesmen (10-8) to close out their regular season, beginning with the fourth annual Courtside festival Friday, February 7 at 8:00 p.m. PT. The weekend action concludes with a rematch for Senior Night on Saturday, February 8, at 7 p.m. PT, both contests taking place at historic War Memorial Gym.
 
The teams last met just over two years ago in Winnipeg where the 'Birds were able to sweep the weekend series, opening with an 83-67 win before following up with a convincing 100-54 decision on the Saturday evening at the Duckworth Centre.
 
Playoff positioning is up for grabs on the final weekend of regular season play as the T-Birds are riding a three-game winning streak and occupy fourth spot in the Canada West standings with 28 points.Two behind Manitoba in the third place (30 pts) and two points ahead of Victoria (26 pts).
 
Meanwhile the Wesmen are on a roll having won four consecutive outings and sit in ninth place in the standings with 20 points, two back of Thompson Rivers in eighth place and two points ahead of Regina in 10^th spot.


 

Last Action

 
The 'Birds went into their bye week flying high following a weekend sweep on the road in Edmonton against the MacEwan Griffins. It began with a 104-67 win where five UBC players reached double-digit scoring featuring Grant Audu's game high 21 points. Audu was efficient in hitting nine of his eleven field goal attempts which included draining three of four three-pointers. Also dangerous from long range was Taylor Browne who was just behind Audu, reaching 20 points with help from his six three pointers
 
The rematch saw UBC enjoy a 108-73 victory and once again it was Audu leading the charge with 22 points courtesy of hitting 10 of his 12 field goal attempts. Grant Shephard was also a force in delivering a double-double, counting 18 points and 15 rebounds while Taylor Browne continued his prowess from beyond the arc hitting four three-pointers en route to a 15-point performance.


 
The Wesmen kept their winning streak intact with a weekend home sweep against Mt. Royal beginning with a 77-72 decision last Friday where it was guard William Sesay leading the way with a double-double recording 17 points and 16 rebounds. Fellow guard Don Dayrit added 16 points. In Saturday's rematch the Cougars shared the ball well en route to a 107-95 victory, guard Adam Benrabah secured a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds while fellow guards William Sesay and Narcisse Ambanza added 23 points each.
 

Coach's Take

 
"I think our intensity has increased in the last couple of weeks," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson regarding his squad's mentality coming into the final weekend. "I think there's a sense of urgency and team's need to start peaking at some point and I think we're certainly on the rise from our intensity at practice to seeing that carry over to games. We're doing a lot of things better than we have been for most of the season, I think the guys are buying into a defensive focus as part of our identity so I think the effort is there and we need to see that behaviour for a full 40 minutes in every single game."
 
Hanson also looked ahead to what he expects from the Wesmen this weekend.
 
"They have some really talented individual players, it's tough when you haven't seen a team in two years to really understand and see the idiosyncrasies of guys to get that feel. They've had some success against some really good teams and although our focus is on ourselves, I think they're a team that can be scary and I think they'll be excited to come out here and play. It's going to be a big crowd and anytime you have a big crowd for both teams the level of intensity increases so we're trying to treat it like a playoff game and I'm sure they're doing the same."