LANGLEY, B.C. – The Thunderbirds continued to roll offensively to begin the Canada West season, scoring 93 points on the road against the Trinity Western Spartans with 47/44/92 shooting splits as a team.
 
Five 'Birds scored double figures, including Nylan Roberts who recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench. Nikola Guzina and Tobi Akinkunmi each scored 14 points as well, with Akinkunmi doing nearly all of his damage in the opening quarter.
 
The T-Birds as a whole dominated much of the first three quarters, scoring 78 points in the first 30 minutes and going up by as many as 31 points before letting their foot off the gas somewhat in the fourth.
 
Tyus DeVries had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Spartans, with 12 of his points coming in that final quarter. Marcus Shankar added 13 points, five boards and three assists.


 
The night certainly started well for UBC, with the T-Birds controlling the opening tip and Akinkunmi drilling a catch-and-shoot three just eight seconds into the game. He hit two more from the corner within the first two minutes, putting his team up 11-4 and forcing an early Spartans timeout.
 
A fourth triple from the red-hot senior made it a double-digit lead later in the frame, and another deep shot – this one from the hands of Roberts – increased the UBC advantage to 29-12.
 
The good times came to a momentary halt to begin the second, however, as while the Spartans were down by 14 to begin the quarter, they scored the first 11 points to put themselves right back into things.
 
A pull-up triple by Gus Goerzen helped settle things, followed by six straight points from Holt Tomie as he hit a tough midrange fadeaway and then attacked the basket to get himself to the free throw line.


 
By the time Roberts hit a corner three off a fantastic skip pass from Tomie, the T-Birds were on a 20-4 run to thoroughly reassert control over proceedings, and they entered halftime with a commanding lead.

A contested triple from Raj Dhadda made it 70-46 late in the third, as UBC for the time being succeeded in not letting the hosts climb back into a closer game like they'd done in the second quarter. Another contested Tomie midrange jumper – this one a buzzer-beater – made it a 28-point lead heading into the fourth.
 
While the Spartans continued to fight in the final frame, and outscored the 'Birds 32-15 in the final 10 minutes, they were not able to come close enough to threaten to pull what would have been a miraculous comeback.
 
After their successful opening weekend to the Canada West season, the Thunderbirds will head back home to take on Thompson Rivers on Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st at War Memorial Gym. The WolfPack will be 1-0 entering Halloween night after their season-opening win over UBC Okanagan on the road.