VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (2-1) kicked off their weekend in fine fashion Friday with an 83-74 road victory over the Trinity Western Spartans (3-2). James Woods paced the UBC attack with 35 points while Brian Wallack chimed in with 19, along with a team-leading nine rebounds. Kevin Hanson's club outscored the Spartans 43-27 in the first half and recorded 50 of their 83 points from inside the paint. It marked the 16^th straight victory for UBC against Trinity January 23, 2015.
 
Less than a week removed from a split with the UNBC Timberwolves, the blue and gold jumped to a 20-11 lead. The first quarter highlight was a 7-0 run of scoring from James Woods which turned a 13-9 lead into a 20-9 advantage during a three-minute window in the back-half of the opening quarter.


 
Woods (seven points) Tobi Akinkunmi (five points) combined for 12 of UBC's 23 second quarter points while five additional players found the score sheet. Daniel Lybbert responded with six points for Trinity. The 'Birds outscored the Spartans 23-16 in quarter 2, and took a 16-point lead into half time.
 
Tre Filmore did his part to try and kickstart a Trinity comeback in the third quarter. Filmore posted nine of his 12 points and notched back-to-back three pointers early on to provide a jolt for his crew. But eight points each from Bryan Wallack and James Woods helped UBC maintain a 64-51 advantage heading into the final quarter.
 
James Woods' most productive quarter was the final one, as he poured in 11 more points to give him 35 on the night. Through three games, he's now averaging 28.3 points which is tops among all Canada West players in points-per-game. Despite outscoring UBC 23-19 in the final quarter, the nine-point gap would be as close as the Spartans would get.
 


Defensively the 'Birds managed 16 points directly off Trinity Western turnovers and also managed 14 second-chance points. Five of Brian Wallack's nine rebounds came on the offensive glass.
 
Tomorrow night at 7:00 pm, the 'Birds and Spartans will once again square off at the David Enarson Gymnasium in Langley, B.C.