VANCOUVER – After a pair of home losses last weekend, and the Victoria Vikes – owners of a 33-game regular season winning streak – coming to town for UBC's annual Courtside festival, the pressure was on for the T-Birds to rise to the occasion.
And rise they did, as they jumped on the Vikes early and weathered multiple attempted comebacks to claim a massive 93-87 win over the No. 1 team in the country.
"I'm very proud, all the credit to the guys," said T-Birds head coach
Phil Jalalpoor. "They responded well this week – we tried to take our lessons, stick to our gameplan, stick to our culture, and after that kind of weekend it's hard sometimes to respond but it didn't take a long time for them…and as you see, if we're focused and we have a plan then we have a chance to be in every single game we play."
The Thunderbirds dominated the Vikes inside, outscoring them 55-18 in the paint and holding the visitors to 39% shooting from inside the arc. The duo of
Nikola Guzina and
Karan Aujla were hard to contain around the rim, combining for 30 points and 13 rebounds on 13-20 shooting.
"The guards did a good job of allowing that – moving the ball in there, taking advantage and going at guys," said Jalalpoor about his team's ability to get the ball inside. "Obviously we have size and that's something we tried to take advantage of."
Holt Tomie had his biggest game yet in a UBC uniform, recording 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists while hitting four three-pointers. 10 different T-Birds scored on the night, as they got contributions throughout the lineup.
Ethan Boag had a massive night for UVic, scoring an efficient 30 points to pair with six boards and two blocks. Renoldo Robinson stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists off the bench.
UBC went up 9-2 early, with buckets inside from
Toni Maric and Guzina capping the early run. The T-Birds' heavy use of zone defence caused some issues for the Vikes to begin, but back-to-back triples from Dylan Gage provided a punch for UVic.
The Thunderbirds then got some bench points of their own from
Karan Aujla, who did damage on the inside to the tune of nine first quarter points. A transition triple from
Raj Dhadda put his team up double digits early, with the crowd roaring as the 'Birds hit 11 of their first 14 shots from the field.
The Vikes kept themselves within striking distance, closing the first quarter down 30-21 and nearly cutting the deficit to six as Geoffrey James had a half-court heave at the buzzer rattle off the rim.
Griffin Arnatt then started the second quarter with a corner three for UVic, but Tomie and
Tobi Akinkunmi responded with three straight triples between them. A Guzina driving finish through contact stretched the UBC lead to 17, with the T-Birds on a 13-2 run.
UVic then responded immediately with 15 straight points of their own, thanks in large part to a big dunk from James and some three-point sharpshooting by Gage and Robinson. That cut the deficit to just two points over the course of a few minutes of action.
A midrange jumper from
Nylan Roberts finally got UBC going again, but another Victoria triple – this one by Ryan Gallagher – tied the score at 47 points apiece.
Zeru Abera ended the half with a nice drive and finish at the cup, but the T-Birds entered the half with a lead a lot slimmer than they'd held earlier in the night.
The T-Birds started the second half much as they did the first, playing with plenty of energy and getting out and running whenever possible. An
Edouard Gauthier putback and-one put them up 63-55, as the Vikes played hard on defence and kept hanging tough against a determined UBC side.
There was a bit of a lull in scoring in the middle of the third, with both teams fighting and not wanting to give up any ground to the other. Abera brought out some oohs and aahs from the crowd with shifty dribble work and the ability to finish inside, while a Shadynn Smid and-one off a lob pass from Robinson kept UVic's score creeping upward.
The third quarter ended with the T-Birds up 71-62, knowing that they'd need to put together a great final 10 minutes if they were to end the Vikes' winning streak.
Aujla continued his strong play with a bucket inside to begin the final frame, off a nice feed from Tomie. Boag and Robinson responded with some points of their own to force a quick UBC timeout.
A three-pointer by Tomie and nice putback from Maric put the 'Birds back up by 10, but the Vikes still refused to quit. They cut the deficit to as little as five points late before some clutch free throw shooting from the 'Birds saw the game out. Tomie's final free throw – for his 24th point of the night – tied UBC's season-high for points scored with 93.
"We all know what Holt can do, and there's still another level to get to," remarked Jalalpoor of his starting point guard. "He sat out a whole year, and I think it takes a while to kind of come back. He's been a great facilitator, but that kind of scoring threat makes it easier for everybody else."
The victory was a big one in the context of the UBC-UVic rivalry, as it snapped a streak of 10 losses in a row for the Thunderbirds against their cross-water foes.
The two teams will meet again in Victoria to close the regular season in February, but there's a ton of basketball to play before those games, including tomorrow night at War Memorial Gym when the T-Birds take on the UBC Okanagan Heat at 6:00 p.m. (PT).
