LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans rally fell five points short as the Brandon Bobcats defeated TWU 74-69 Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Spartans rallied from a 24 point third quarter deficit to close within three points, before dropping the contest. The loss drops the Spartans to 4-10, while the win moves the Bobcats to 6-8. 

"Getting the win on Friday and having some outstanding individual efforts sometimes hurts us more the next night. Because we forget how much more our opponent is going to want it the next night. I don't think we responded well to Brandon's desire to win. When it comes to playing a team that has great athletes with a burning desire to win your team play is going to have to match their level of wanting the ball to go in the hoop more than you do," commented TWU head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "I was really disappointed with the first three minutes of the second half. We had a passive style of play and they took full advantage of it. The group that subbed in really had a desire to change the momentum of the game. It was great for the first group to come in and redeem themselves, in a way, but it wasn't enough. It can't make up for 23 minutes of lackluster play. And despite that we still had an opportunity to win today's game." 

"We are just learning these life lessons and they are so hard to take because we are so much better than we played for most of today's game. We have played much better teams, much better," said Jean-Paul. "It is our ability to play to our potential that is going to allow us to break through these barriers. But until that happens these games are still going to be heart breakers." 

Second year guard Jessie Brown (Langley, B.C.) with 18 points and second year forward Tessa Ratzlaff (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals led the Spartans, while Keisha Cox with 24 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and five steals led the way for the Bobcats. 

The difference in the contest came down to shooting as the Spartans struggled from the field shooting 33.3 percent, 22-66, while the Bobcats finished at 49.1 percent, 26-53. 

The Spartans had a slow start to the game as the Bobcats jumped out to a 14-3 five minutes into the first quarter. TWU gradually gained ground as the quarter progressed to trail 23-11 at the end of the first 10 minutes. 

Trinity Western had a much better start to the second quarter as they outscored Brandon 8-2 in the first three minutes, to cut the deficit to six points, 25-19. The Bobcats responded and built their lead back to double digits with an 11-6 run to lead 36-25 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. Brandon regrouped to end the first half with a 11 point lead, 45-34. 

The third quarter was a battle between the two teams control the game. Brandon was explosive to start the second half. They extended their lead to 24 points, 60-36, five minutes into the quarter. TWU scrambled back with a 13-0 run to cut the Brandon lead to 11 points, 60-49. The Bobcats would finish the fast paced third quarter with a 14 point, 65-51, lead. 

The Spartans continued to apply pressure to the Bobcats throughout the fourth quarter. TWU used a 8-0 run, back-to-back three's by Brown and Luca Schmidt, followed by two free throws from Kristen Ford, in the first three minutes to cut the Brandon lead to four points 66-62. Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the basket over the next six minutes. With Brandon leading by six points, with 10 seconds remaining Brown hit a three to make it a one possession game. The Spartans fouled, but the Bobcats Keisha Cox hit both foul shots to seal the five point, 74-69 win. 

"We will get back in the gym this week and work through some of those things. The reality is that we have to get better defensively five or six plays every quarter. And until we chose to play better defence and make a commitment to playing better defence regardless of what our offensive output is we are going to continue to be hampered by teams being able to shoot 50 percent and us getting outscored." 

The Spartans will now travel to Edmonton to face the University of Alberta Pandas on Feb. 5 and Feb. 6. 

Game Notes: Brandon had a 43-32 edge in rebounds…TWU finished with 23 turnovers, while Brandon finished with 28…the Bobcats were 50 percent, 7-14, from the three point line, while the Spartans were 35 percent, 7-20… TWU's Kristen Ford tied her season high with seven rebounds… 

-TW-