VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds battled hard but fell short in the end as the Victoria Vikes  carved out a 70-58 win in front of a boisterous sellout crowd at the annual Courtside Festival game at War Memorial Gym Saturday night. UBC held Victoria to their lowest-scoring performance of the season, but shot just 29% from the field and 39% from the free throw line in dropping the second-consecutive game in the home-and-home series.
 
James Woods led the T-Birds with 21 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Brian Wallack also double-doubled with 15 points and 11 boards while Adam Olsen added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.


 
Diego Maffia paced the Vikes with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Elias Ralph added 19 points and eight rebounds.
 
Both teams struggled from the field to begin the night, but UBC got out to an early 10-5 lead powered by threes from both Wallack and Tobi Akinkunmi. A big putback dunk by Fareed Shittu then forced an early Victoria timeout.


 
The Vikes remained cold through the rest of the quarter, and after an Olsen three-pointer pushed the lead to double digits the frame ended with UBC up 19-8. The Thunderbirds' defense was locked in, holding the Vikes to just 3-19 shooting from the field.
 
However, Victoria began the 2^nd with an 8-2 run, before Wallack hit a triple and an and-one on back-to-back trips down the floor to try and regain the momentum. The Vikes continued to heat up, with Maffia landing an and-one of his own to give the Vikes their first lead at 29-27.
 
The Thunderbirds fell cold, going four minutes without scoring, as Maffia poured in 15 in the quarter to put the visitors up 36-27. UBC did have a late surge to end the half, capped off by an incredible halfcourt buzzer beater from Micah Jessie to cut the lead to 38-34 at the break.


 
Unfortunately, the T-Birds were unable to continue their momentum into the third, committing six turnovers in the first four minutes as Victoria pushed out to a 52-36 advantage. Two straight buckets by Woods cut into the lead, but that's as close as UBC would get in the quarter as it ended 61-43 in favour of the Vikes.
 
Despite entering the final quarter of play down 18 points, UBC continued to fight. Six straight points from Olsen keyed the beginning of a massive 13-0 run for the home team, highlighted by an emphatic dunk by Wallack to make it a five-point game.


 
However, Victoria responded with a brief push of their own, and the Thunderbirds' offense dried up in the final few minutes to end the hopes of a dramatic comeback. A 9-2 run by the Vikes to close the game made the final score 70-58.
 
The loss drops UBC's record to 4-4. This was just the third home game of the season for the road-weary T-Birds, and they head out on the road once again next week to take on MacEwan on December 1^st and 2^nd. They won't play again at War Memorial Gym until January 5^th and 6^th against Trinity Western.