VANCOUVER - The fans at War Memorial Gym were treated to a barn burner Saturday night, as the U SPORTS No.4-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (10-4) prevailed 93-90 over the U SPORTS No.6-ranked Manitoba Bisons.
The visitors started out with the momentum and led by as many as 12 points early on. UBC fought back though, powered by first year
Adam Olsen, who scored a spectacular 17 points in just six minutes in the second. The second half was very close throughout, with UBC pulling ahead in the final stages and hitting enough free throws in the dying seconds to hang on.
"I thought we started a little bit lethargic, especially on the defensive side of things… they did some good things" said Thunderbirds head coach
Kevin Hanson. "What we did differently was we got Adam into the game and Adam busted them for 17 points! Good on him for being ready to come in and make those plays."
Olsen ended with a season-best 24 points on 7-11 shooting.
Fareed Shittu finished with 15 points and five rebounds despite battling foul trouble, and
Brian Wallack double-doubled with 12 points and 11 boards, five of them on the offensive end.
Mason Krause led the Bisons with 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Tito Obasoto had a fantastic game off the bench with 18 points and eight rebounds, both season-highs.
UBC attacked the paint early in the first, with
James Woods and
Tobi Akinkunmi both getting to the rim to put the T-Birds up 8-2. The Bisons, however, responded with a massive 16-2 run to take the lead.
The Thunderbirds soon got their offence going again, but Manitoba kept their foot on the gas and ended the first quarter up 26-19 and shooting 6-10 from three-point range.
An alley-oop from
Micah Jessie to Shittu off of an inbounds play in the first minute of the second got the crowd energized, but the Bisons continued to rain threes and pushed their lead out to 36-24.
It was at that point that the second quarter became the
Adam Olsen show, as the first-year forward drained four triples, including three on consecutive possessions, to cut into the lead. He ended the half with an and-one layup and the T-Birds entered the third down 49-46.
The UBC defence locked in to begin the second half, forcing four turnovers in a row. After
Brendan Sullivan blew past the Bisons for a layup to take a 50-49 lead, the two teams traded buckets for much of the quarter.
Neither team could break ahead by multiple possessions, with Jessie, Shittu and Akinkunmi all hitting big threes late in the frame to put the Thunderbirds up 69-67 going into the fourth.
The fourth quarter was a physical battle, with Wallack coming alive to score seven points in the final few minutes including an and-one to put UBC up 83-75.
The Bisons continued fighting, and a big three by Daren Watts followed by a block on the other end gave them the ball down 93-90 with just 11 seconds left. But the Thunderbirds stood tall, strongly contesting both of the Bisons' missed shots to tie and celebrating when the clock hit zero.
"I think we're growing," said coach Hanson. "As the saying goes, it's a marathon and not a sprint. We're getting into the sprint part where we need a kick, two nights in a row here was a pretty good kick… I think we're playing tougher, we're playing smarter and we're starting to knock down some shots."
The Thunderbirds have now won six in a row, and their 10-4 record is tied for third in the Canada West standings. Next up is a trip north to Prince George to take on UNBC on January 19
th and 20
th. They will next play at War Memorial Gym on February 9
th and 10
th against Calgary in the final weekend of the regular season.
