The UBC Thunderbirds extended their win streak to 13 games with a 78-63 victory over the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (4-8) to maintain a perfect 9-0 record inside War Memorial Gym this season.
Grant Audu went six for eight from beyond the arc and put up a game-high 24 points with eight boards, while
Sukhman Sandhu had 13 points with nine rebounds and
James Woods totalled 12 points with four rebounds in the gritty win.
"It's so tough to play teams back-to-back," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson after the WolfPack came out swinging to close out the Canada West series. "There's sometimes some complacency when you beat a team on the first night no matter how much you pump them up and get them going, and TRU wasn't going to shoot the ball that badly two nights in a row. They shot it better, but our defence was softer, and we weren't as intense as we were last night. In the first half we just weren't scoring and that seemed to frustrate us on the other end of the floor. I thought there was no flow to the game tonight – there were so many free throws and not many trips up and down the court – so it was tough. We played twelve players in the first half and sometimes you lose a little flow when guys are playing different roles, in the second half we shortened the bench to get some guys more of a run together and I think that paid off. It was a grind, but we're happy to get the win."
Brendan Sullivan had a team-high 20 points with four threes and four rebounds in the loss and Asher Mayan earned a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards for the WolfPack, as the visitors tied UBC with six steals but outpaced the 'Birds with 14 points from turnovers.
Richard Mageto went three for three from the floor to start the first for TRU, but the 'Birds kept pace and a deep Sandhu three made it 19-7 before
Toni Maric dropped a triple of his own at 24-9. Daniel Bost made it a 10-point game with a late three and the T-Birds led 24-14 after the first.
Audu knocked down a three at 27-16 UBC early in the second quarter before Sullivan responded with a triple to maintain the 10-point differential at 31-21 with just under six minutes left in the half. Simon Crossfield cut it to seven with a layup for TRU and Sullivan brought the WolfPack within four with his second three as the T-Birds held a 34-29 lead at halftime.
Sandhu and Audu drained threes to extend the UBC lead to 42-31 in the third before Sullivan hit a triple at 44-34.
Jack Cruz-Dumont found Woods for three and finished at the rim for a 49-34 edge, but Sullivan hit his second three of the quarter at 49-37 and Mayan cut the deficit to single digits with a three at 49-40. UBC bounced back with an 8-0 run late in the third and closed out the quarter up 59-43.
Audu reached 21 points midway through the fourth quarter on a strong take to the rim at 68-58 and the 'Birds continued on to the 15-point win.
"This was our twelfth or thirteenth day straight, so the guys are looking forward to a couple days off," said Hanson as the T-Birds now have a bye week away from conference play. "It gives us a chance to refocus. Schedule-wise, there's still a lot to be decided about the next couple months so we're focussing on getting better and better each week."
UBC will resume their Canada West regular season on the road against the University of Victoria Vikes on February 4th and 5th, while TRU will return home for a series with the Vikes on January 28th and 29th in Kamloops.
