LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western came up just shy of earning its first preseason win, as the Spartans lost 61-60 against UBC Okanagan Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

The Spartans took an early first-quarter leading, going ahead by as many as 15 points, but the Heat clawed their way back into the match before eking out the win down the stretch in the fourth quarter.  

The game is just the Spartans second of a six-match preseason schedule, which also features future contests with Regina (Oct. 23), Lethbridge (Oct. 26) and Mount Royal (Oct. 27) as well as Saturday's rematch with UBCO. 

QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul – TWU Head Coach
"The unfortunate part about the preseason is sometimes you have the learn the hard lessons first. I think we gave ourselves way more than enough opportunities to score in order to win. But at the end of the day, you do need to do the little things well. I thought we had some lapses on our defensive rotations and we really struggled against their strong rebounders. This presents another opportunity to get better at another phase of the game. I'm excited for all of the potential we have and all the looks we were able to create. We just need to be determined to finish those looks.

NEXT UP
The Spartans and Heat will play a rematch Saturday at 3 p.m. (PT) at the LEC.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.

-TW-