VANCOUVER, B.C. – Trinity Western fell 97-80 against UBC on Thursday at the War Memorial Gym. Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) and Andrew Goertzen (Langley, B.C.) highlighted the night for the Spartans as the duo combined for 49 points.
 
TWU (0-1) caught UBC (1-0) on their heels early, but were unable to stay in control of the game as the Thunderbirds ran away with it in the latter half.
 
With Canada West games not being played in nearly two years, the competitive rust played a significant factor in Thursday's game. The first quarter saw the Spartans push the tempo of the game, outscoring UBC 17-10 after the first seven minutes of play. Although TWU's early lead was encouraging, UBC's Sukhman Sandhu had different plans, hitting two back-to-back threes to bring the game back into balance.
 
The first quarter wrapped up with Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath threading a pinpoint pass to Andrew Goertzen who finished it to put the Spartans up 23-21.
 
Gilbreath opened the second quarter with a beautifully worked step-back 3-pointer over a UBC defender. Gilbreath's shot generated enough heat to hit two more 3-pointers, bringing the Spartans to a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter.
 
Both teams started to trade blows as the Spartans dictated the pace of the game, forcing the opposing Thunderbirds into a shootout. Tre Fillmore (Amarillo, Texas), and Gilbreath started scoring, forcing UBC's defenders into a system of tight perimeter coverage. As a result, Goertzen was able to use his size to crash the boards to put away easy baskets.
 
In similar fashion to the first quarter, UBC was able to claw back, bringing the game to 41-41 at the half.

After the half, UBC started to pound the rock down low, slowing down the game to play a style more suitable for their personnel. In this game of runs, UBC was able to move to a 10-point lead which was constantly fiddled with throughout the remainder of the quarter.
 
The Spartans were unable to keep up with the depth, and defensive ability of UBC as the game gradually dwindled into their favour with each minute that passed in the final quarter of action.
 
NOTABLE

• Fourth-year center Andrew Goertzen was a major factor in Thursday's game, totalling 20 points, 12 rebounds, a block, and two steals.
• Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath was the most prominent offensive force for the Spartans on Thursday. Gilbreath was constantly dicing through UBC's defenders, creating shots for himself and his teammates to take home a game-high 29 points.

 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"I thought we had a good first half. We executed our game plan, getting some good looks. Our defensive coverages and rebounding were solid as well. Rebounding is something we've needed to work on, so it was good to see guys doing what they needed to do on that end of the court.

"We had a bad finish to the first half which let the game get out of hand. They (UBC) started hitting shots and we started missing during the middle portion of the game.

"Andrew Goertzen had a great night. It was an awesome effort from him and I was really happy to see him have a career night."

UP NEXT
With their Canada West season now underway, the Spartans come home to play Victoria (0-0) at the Langley Events Centre for their home opener at 8 p.m.
 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

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