EDMONTON – The UBC Thunderbirds (6-4) forced turnover and turnover and drew frequent fouls throughout the night in a 96-63 win over the MacEwan Griffins (0-8) on Saturday at David Atkinson Gym.
The T-Birds won both halves of the two-game series with the Griffins handily, by a combined 50 points, to enter the winter break on a high.
Adam Olsen led UBC with 17 points and six rebounds, while
Fareed Shittu had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Five players scored in double figures for the T-Birds.
Joel Seke and Thai Haak led the Griffins with 12 points each, while Job Janda had 11 points and eight rebounds for MacEwan in the loss.
MacEwan fell behind big early on Friday night against UBC, but for the first half of the opening quarter on Saturday, they hung right with them. They trailed just 14-11, after Matthew Osunde hit corner three-pointer, but then things got away from them. UBC took full advantage of two of MacEwan's most experienced players playing themselves off the floor due to foul trouble as the blue and gold finished the first quarter on a 19-4 run to lead 33-15.
The 'Birds were up 50-33 at the half, but it was in the third quarter that UBC was able to truly break game open, taking control of the paint, while also hitting more shots from long range. The T-Birds knocked down 40% of their threes and kept piling up the points, increasing the lead to 26 by the end of the third quarter and eventually taking the win by 33 points.
UBC now has more than a month off after surviving a road-heavy first half of their season. They next play in the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym against the Trinity Western Spartans on January 6
th.
