VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds lost some steam in the fourth quarter and eventually dropped a 85-74 decision to the visiting Thompson Rivers Wolfpack to open a weekend series Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
For TRU, Jayden Stephens and Dami Farinloye fuelled the offence with 31 and 18 points, respectively.
Nikola Guzina led the way for UBC with 22 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
It was a close game from the opening tip on Halloween at War Memorial as the WolfPack arrived in Vancouver looking to improve on their 1-0 record. A two-handed flush from Wright set the tone early as TRU dialed up the intensity in the opening quarter. With the WolfPack threatening, veterans
Gus Goerzen and Guzina kept UBC close, hitting a series of threes to send UBC into the second quarter down by two.
UBC regained its footing early in the second quarter, thanks in part to the momentum of a thunderous slam from Guzina, which helped knot the score at 30-30. But TRU was unfazed as the WolfPack closed the first half on an 11-3 run that was capped off by a buzzer-beating lay-up by Stephens, who grabbed a rebound and sprinted the length of the floor to convert at the rim as time expired.
After a back-and-forth first half that saw the WolfPack enter half-time with an eight-point lead, UBC found its footing in the third quarter, outscoring TRU 26-17 thanks to timely baskets from
Holt Tomie, who recorded 12 points, five assists and three rebounds on the night.
But TRU had a response each time UBC made its push. After a quiet first half, Farinloye came alive in the closing quarter, cashing in on a barrage of threes to silence the crowd and halt any momentum that the T-Birds were able to muster. Farinloye and Stephens had 11 and 10 points each in the fourth quarter to seal the win as TRU bumped its record to 2-0, while UBC fell to 2-1.
Goerzen finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three steals for the T-Birds, who look to bounce back tomorrow against the Wolfpack. Tip-off at War Memorial Gym is slated for 6 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, November 1st.