VANCOUVER – It was not the night that the Thunderbirds were hoping for, as they fell 90-72 to the UPEI Panthers in the INDOCHINO U SPORTS Final 8 quarterfinals. Seeded sixth heading into the tournament, the AUS champions pulled off the upset against the third-seeded T-Birds to advance to the medal rounds.

Rookie guard Hugo Bermejo was fantastic for the Panthers with 19 points, nine rebounds and seven steals, all of those numbers season-highs. Kamari Scott recorded 21 points, seven rebounds and three steals before fouling out, while Kyree Thompson had 15 points and six assists.

Adam Olsen scored a team-high 17 points for the blue and gold while adding three assists and two blocks. Gus Goerzen poured in an efficient 14 points, four rebounds and two blocks off the bench, and Brendan Sullivan tallied eight points and eight rebounds.



The trouble began early for the 'Birds, who were hassled and harried into a series of turnovers to begin the game. Despite a series of emphatic blocks started by Fareed Shittu, the maritime outfit jumped out to an 11-2 lead before buckets inside from Victor Radocaj and Shittu started to close the gap.

Goerzen leveled the score at 20 with an acrobatic and-one layup that got the crowd energized, part of a 9-2 run to end the first quarter that put the Thunderbirds right back into things.

However, Daniel Gonzalez Longarela scored the first two buckets of the second for UPEI, powering an early burst for his team that was ended for the moment by a tough finish in traffic by Olsen.

From there, the Panthers continued to get to all the 50/50 balls, capitalizing on more UBC turnovers to slowly increase their lead. The visitors were up 47-33 at the break, their defence remaining locked in and fueling their speedy attacks.



The third quarter was their best defensive stretch of the night, as the T-Birds were unable to get the momentum going to cut into the lead. Despite some strong defensive pressure from the 'Birds as well, the Panthers' ability to get to the free throw line and crash the offensive glass put them up 26 heading into the fourth.

UBC finally got their offence going in the final frame, scoring 35 points – including five three-pointers – and at one point getting the lead down to 11, but they were sadly unable to get closer as UPEI closed out a massive victory.

The Thunderbirds will now face Queen's in the consolation semifinal round. That matchup takes place at 1:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday at War Memorial Gym.