BURNABY, B.C. – For the first time since 2022, the Buchanan Cup was on the line as the UBC Thunderbirds headed to the Simon Fraser University campus to take on the SFU Red Leafs on Saturday night.
The game being played on Burnaby Mountain meant that it followed NCAA regulations, meaning there were two 20-minute halves rather than four 10-minute quarters. Any minor differences mattered not to the T-Birds, who shut down the Red Leafs offence by holding them to just 35% shooting from the field.
The 'Birds shot 51% from the field themselves and 39% from three.
Holt Tomie was the offensive engine, tallying 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists on 5-8 shooting.
Edouard Gauthier scored 11 points off the bench while
Nikola Guzina had nine points, four boards and four steals.
Mikyle Malabuyoc scored a game-high 15 points for the home team, while Tate Christiansen with 11 was the only other SFU player to score more than six points.
Toni Maric notched the first bucket of the game, splashing in a triple from the top of the arc. A couple minutes later Malabuyoc hit a three-pointer of his own from the corner to tie the game at 5-5, before
Nylan Roberts answered right back with a deep shot of his own.
That was both the first and the last time that the Red Leafs would draw even with the T-Birds, who led wire-to-wire from there.
A strong driving layup by Guzina both knocked his defender to the floor and forced an early SFU timeout, part of a 13-2 run that gave the visitors an early double-digit lead. The outside barrage continued with consecutive hits from Gauthier, both off of assists from Burnaby native
Zeru Abera.
An emphatic
Jacob Antchak slam by brought a roar from the UBC fans who made the trip to Burnaby Mountain, as the T-Birds got some big contributions from their bench early. UBC's mixing in of some zone defence also served to frustrate the Red Leafs somewhat as the half wore on, forcing some turnovers and helping the blue and gold to maintain a lead.
SFU did manage to briefly cut the deficit to five points following another triple from Malabuyoc, but the Thunderbirds closed the half well with a long two from Roberts and a driving finish through contact by Gauthier putting them up 38-29 heading into the break.
Gus Goerzen started the half with an and-one finish, set up by one of many sweet passes from the hands of Tomie. The gap between the two teams remained relatively steady for most of the second period of action, with the Red Leafs unable to make a big run but the 'Birds unable to fully pull away either.
A Goerzen corner triple with 12 minutes to play made it a 15-point advantage, the biggest of the night to that point for UBC. But Sartaj Bhangu responded with consecutive threes of his own to make it a single-digit deficit once again.
Try as they might, however, the Red Leafs were never able to make it a two-possession game or closer. The Thunderbirds stepped their foot on the gas as the game neared its conclusion, and won 66-54 in the end, claiming the Buchanan Cup for the third time in the four meetings played between the two schools since 2010.
After their cross-town victory, the Thunderbirds will now turn their attention back to Canada West play next weekend, as they head out to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Huskies in a two-game set on November 21 and 22.
Those will be the only games played against a Prairie Division opponent in the regular season. The Huskies are in a bye week currently, and will be looking to turn things around after a 1-5 start to the campaign.
