VANCOUVER – There was no rust to begin the new year for the UBC Thunderbirds, as they improved to 9-2 on the season with an emphatic victory over the Trinity Western Spartans.
Both
Nikola Guzina and
Nylan Roberts had big-time performances, with Roberts grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds to go with 21 points off the bench, and Guzina tallying a highly efficient 21 points and 12 boards.
"They were ready to go, they've been like that all year," said UBC head coach
Phil Jalalpoor of his two forwards. "If they're rebounding and they're aggressive then they're two guys who can always have a big night. It was great to see."
Edouard Gauthier also scored 13 for the T-Birds as they recorded an incredible 50 bench points.
On the side of the Spartans, Marcus Shankar led the way with 16 points and two steals, while Tyus DeVries nearly double-doubled with nine points and nine rebounds.
"It was good collective basketball against a very good team," added Jalalpoor on his team's overall performance. "We came out trying to solve it together – a lot of passes per possession which we enjoy and I think some really good shot creation."
The T-Birds jumped out to a 17-6 lead early, with
Holt Tomie finding Guzina with a hit-ahead in transition for the easy score, followed by a
Gus Goerzen triple to force the Spartans to call for time.
Despite falling behind by as much as 20 early in the second, the Spartans kept grinding and fought their way back into the game. A Jack Vandenberg triple cut the deficit to 12, but that's as close as they would get in the first half as the T-Birds responded with a 13-7 run to end the frame.
Entering the break up 47-29, the 'Birds came out slow offensively to begin the third quarter. The Spartans began to chip away at their lead once again, but the T-Birds found the right gear again midway through the quarter.
A
Zeru Abera baseline drive and dish to the corner found
Raj Dhadda wide open for three, putting the hosts back up by 17 and back in control. They didn't let up from there, and were able to see out a comfortable fourth quarter to take the win in their first game of the new year.
Now 5-8, the Spartans will be determined to get some measure of revenge in the rematch on Saturday night.
"It's a completely different game," mused Jalalpoor on what's to come. "You can look at certain things from the first night, but if you expect it to be the same game then you're mistaken. Flush it out, prepare like it's a new opponent, try and get better and see where it goes."
The final regular season meeting between UBC and Trinity Western tips off at 6:00 p.m. inside War Memorial Gym.
