VANCOUVER - A fantastic fourth quarter performance powered the UBC Thunderbirds to a 98-84 home win over the Trinity Western Spartans, completing the weekend sweep Saturday evening at War Memorial Gym. The T-Birds outscored the visitors 28-14 in the final ten minutes after the game was tied at the end of the third quarter.
 
Thunderbirds Head Coach Kevin Hanson was pleased with his team's effort in the fourth.
 
"We did some good things defensively," said Hanson. "We turned up the compete factor in the last few minutes and our defence cranked up and that led to us scoring in transition."
 
Fifth-year captain, Brian Wallack had a dominant night, scoring 24 points on 8-9 shooting, which included hitting two of three attempts from three-point land to go with eight rebounds and four steals. Victor Radocaj had a season-high 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks in just 15 minutes off the bench, while Micah Jessie notched his season-high in assists for the second straight night with seven, along with 15 points.


 
David Mutabazi had a strong performance for the Spartans with 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Josh Belvin recorded 18 points, six assists and four steals.
 
It was Wallack who got the Thunderbirds off to a strong start offensively, scoring UBC's first six points of the game. Back-to-back buckets from Radocaj then made it a 12-4 lead for the hosts halfway through the quarter.


 
TWU did fight back, keeping the lead within single digits, but UBC remained ahead up 20-15 at the end of the first, holding the Spartans to just 26% shooting from the field.

Radocaj continued his strong first half with a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second quarter. A putback dunk by Fareed Shittu and then a Jessie triple made it 34-26 for UBC as they threatened to stretch their lead.


 
However, the Thunderbirds failed to close the half well as the Spartans ripped off a 17-7 run in the final few minutes to give them a 43-41 advantage at the break, capped off by Marcus Shankar hitting two threes in the final 20 seconds of the quarter.
 
The two teams traded buckets early in the 3^rd, going back and forth until TWU went on a run to take a 59-54 lead, their biggest of the night. It was short-lived though, as the T-birds immediately responded with a quick five points of their own.
 
The offences came alive as the third came to a close, with both sides nailing threes including a pair from UBC's Tobi Akinkunmi. After Shankar hit another last-second shot the score was tied at 70 apiece going into the fourth.


 
A big block by Radocaj followed by a floater from Jessie gave the T-Birds the lead early in the final quarter, one that they would never relinquish. UBC took all the momentum, with Wallack feeding Shittu for a big slam to make it 81-74 with five minutes left.
 
After James Woods walked into a three to make it 89-81, UBC cruised from there, winning 98-84 in the end for their highest-scoring game since opening night.
 

?? MBB | T-Birds down @TWUSpartans 98-84 in a second consecutive roller coaster game between the two teams. UBC completes the weekend sweep & improves to 8-4 on the season.

5th-year captain Brian Wallack took control of the contest with a game high 24pts & 8 rebs.

??: pic.twitter.com/hddM53N2jM

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 7, 2024

 
The Thunderbirds have now won four in a row after starting conference play 4-4, but Coach Hanson believes the team still has plenty of room to grow.
 
"We're finally on a roll here but we're still trying to figure out who we are, we're still trying to figure out our identity," added Hanson.
 
UBC is now 8-4, in a four-way tie for the fourth seed in Canada West. Next up is a massive home series against 10-2 Manitoba on January 12^th and 13^th at War Memorial Gym.