LANGLEY, B.C. – The Trinity Western Spartans men's basketball team defeated the MacEwan Griffins 109-97 Friday at the David E. Enarson Gymnasium. 
 
The win was a historic one for TWU, as their last win came over 21 months ago on Feb. 2, 2018 in a 97-88 win over the Griffins in Edmonton. 
 
Spartans guard Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) paced TWU's offence with a game-high 33 points while shooting 50% from the field (11-22), while forward Adam Gehrig (Toowoomba, Australia) added 24 points with five 3-pointers, and Andrew Goertzen (Langley, B.C.) added a game-high seven rebounds. 
 
Abdullah Shittu led the Griffins with 31 points, five rebounds and three assists. Deonte Doslov-Doctor chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds in the losing cause. 
 
With their first win of the season TWU moves to 1-6, while the loss drops the Griffins to 0-7 to start the year. 
 
The first quarter saw the Griffins get off to the hot start, outpacing TWU 23-14 heading into the second quarter. 
 
A trio of timely three-pointers from Spartans forward Gehrig and a last second layup from Spartans guard Gabe Mannes (Chilliwack, B.C.) in the second quarter saw the Spartans trailing just three points, 46-43 at halftime. 
 
The Spartans continued their momentum into the third quarter, tying the game up at scores of 50 and 55 off Gilbreath three-pointers, before a last second layup from MacEwan's Mason Hunter gave the Griffins a one-point lead at 69-68.  
 
A huge 3-pointer in the fourth-quarter from DaSilva tied the game at 78 with just over 7 minutes to play, before another 3-pointer from DaSilva gave the Spartans the lead at 81-80. With just over four minutes left in the game, a Mannes 3-pointer gave the Spartans their largest lead of the night at 90-85. 
 
Mannes then added a layup with 2:37 left to push the Spartans lead to nine, as TWU would hold on to come away with the 109-97 victory. 
 
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie – TWU Head Coach
 
"Being in this gym tonight was electric – it was an awesome atmosphere and we really fed off the fans tonight. I think we came out nervous and a bit jittery, not playing our style and super stagnant offensively. The pressure of the game may have thrown off the guys at the start, but once we stated to push the ball and get on a bit of a run the crowd got into it and we just kept rolling. I think it was our best rebounding game of the year. I know we're a really good team in transition and if we want to run it starts with the defensive end, in getting stops and getting rebounds, and tonight we were able to rebound better than usual, especially into the second half." 
 
On Notable Players:
"Ja'Qualyn is a superstar in this league. He really closed the game out for us and played very composed. He got off to a bit of a rough start, but the the game slowed down for him and he picked his spots and began playing really well. We had a couple of our key shooters like Riley and Isaiah miss some shots, but then other guys stepped up. Adam had five 3's, and Ethan DaSilva had his best game of the season by far – he was unbelievable for us tonight. You could really see Ethan's leadership, both him and Jack being fifth-years really wanted to win and that was very noticeable particularly in the fourth quarter."
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans last win was against MacEwan on Feb. 2, 2018 when TWU knocked off the Griffins 97-88 in Edmonton. Ethan DaSilva (Calgary) and Aaron Paetkau (Parksville, B.C.) are the only two current Spartans who remain from the 2017-18 TWU squad. 
• The last time TWU played a regular season game at David E. Enarson Gymnasium was in 2016-17 (Dec. 1-2), with the Spartans falling in a pair of games against Brandon. 

• The Spartans and Griffins last played Feb. 2-3 2018, with both teams splitting games in Edmonton. 

 
NEXT UP
The Spartans wrap up their first semester schedule Saturday (7 p.m. PT) against MacEwan at the David E. Enarson Gym.

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-