VICTORIA – It all comes down to Saturday night. The final game across the entire Canada West regular season will decide the conference's Pacific Division, after the U SPORTS No.6-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (15-4) pulled off a comeback, 85-76 win over the U SPORTS No.1-ranked Victoria Vikes (16-3) at CARSA Performance Gym on Saturday to set up the winner-take-all rematch.

The T-Birds consistently trailed, often by double digits, through three quarters, before suddenly snatching the lead early in the fourth and then locking down the Vikes' vaunted offence to close out the win.

Holt Tomie had his best scoring game in a UBC uniform, proving his big game prowess by pouring in 26 points; besting his previous mark of 24, which came in the historic win over Victoria earlier this season. Nylan Roberts continued his stellar play since being inserted into the starting lineup, tallying 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals while being a dynamic and disruptive defender.

"Along the lines of disrupting and just playing loose and getting it done, (Nylan) kind of embodies what we're trying to do," said UBC interim head coach Phil Jalalpoor after the game.

"He's playing a great stretch of basketball and really, really buying into what we're trying to do. So very proud of him."
 
The victory means that UBC has won the season series against Victoria for the first time since 2018-19 and therefore holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. That sets up Saturday's rematch to decide the division and the No.2 seed in the Canada West playoffs, with the losing team set to slot in at No.4.

"I think there's a lot of things we could have done better (tonight)," added Jalalpoor.
 
"They're gonna come out swinging. So we know we're going to get their best side and it will be very, very, very difficult to get that done again. (Tonight) was one more thing we can learn going into tomorrow and now we'll see how it all works out."
 


The first quarter started with a flurry of scoring, as the two teams found themselves tied 10-10 just three minutes in. Victoria then went on a 9-0 run to jump out to a significant advantage, not even halfway through the frame. The UBC bench was able to stop the bleeding, with an Edouard Gauthier three, follow by a Karan Aujla layup, quickly cutting the deficit to four. Both sides traded jabs from there, with a high-scoring first quarter ending at 28-21 in favour of the Vikes.

The second quarter, in many ways, mirrored the first. The two rivals battled to a stalemate early on, before the Vikes went on a 10-2 run to open things up, only to see the T-Birds gradually reel back them in. Point guard Holt Tomie started dialing his own number more often, and to great effect, as he poured in six points in a two-minute stretch to help keep his team in it. However, a 6-2 Vikes run to close out the quarter saw the home side extend their edge back to 49-39 by half-time.

In the third, the 'Birds quickly quieted the CARSA crowd with a 7-0 run, capped by a Raj Dhadda corner three, to force a Vikes timeout. The UBC deficit was down to five, which is where it remained at the end of the frame.



Everything changed in the fourth.

Less than a minute in, the T-Birds had ripped off a 7-0 run and taken their first lead, which they would never relinquish. UBC simply took it to the defending national champions in the quarter, forcing turnover after turnover, as a frazzled Victoria side floundered on the offensive end. The Vikes had managed just five points over the first eight minutes of the frame, before the 'Birds weathered their desperation comeback attempt by knocking down six of eight free throws in the final minute to seal the 85-76 win.

UBC's defensive turnaround was stunning, as, after allowing 28 points in the first quarter, they only conceded 27 over the entire second half.

The hotly anticipated rematch is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, back at CARSA Performance Gym. Catch it live or on demand on Canada West TV.