LANGLEY, B.C. – A late fourth-quarter surge from visiting Victoria sunk Trinity Western's hopes of capturing their first win of the season, as the experienced Vikes pulled away for a 90-77 win Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
With 7:33 to go in the fourth quarter, the Spartans
Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) hit a 3-pointer to pull TWU even at 67-67, after trailing by as much as 12 in the third quarter. However, Victoria responded with a 14-2 run to restore its 12-point advantage and the Spartans didn't threaten down the stretch.
Ja'Qaulyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) led TWU with 27 points to go with six rebounds, while
Tre Fillmore (Amarillo) put up 23 points. Bourcier had a team-high seven rebounds as well as 11 points.
Victoria's Scott Kellum led the visitors with 23 points, while five other Vikes hit double-digits in points. Dominick Oliveri had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The Vikes had a 22-2 edge in second chance points, but TWU had a 17-4 advantage in fast break points.
The visitors won the battle of the benches, with Victoria getting 28 points from its bench to the Spartans five.
The game marked the second of three straight outings for TWU against Victoria. The Spartans are now 0-3 on the season, while the win improves the Vikes to 4-1.
AS IT HAPPENED
After losing by 38 points in their previous meeting with Victoria, TWU was much better early on, trailing by just four points after the first quarter, 20-16, and eight points at halftime, 40-32.
The Vikes went up 52-40 after a lay-up by Diego Maffia midway through the third quarter, but TWU pushed back over the final 4:35 of the frame. A Fillmore 3-pointer launched a 16-6 TWU run to end the quarter with the Spartans down by just two pints, 58-56. TWU continued to push early in the fourth quarter, but it was the Vikes holding off the Spartans over the final five minutes.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"The second chance points and turnovers are really the difference. They got 21 more shots than us, which is huge. The guys battled hard though. We made some mistakes in coverage, but overall, I thought the effort was really good. I think this Victoria team is really good. We battled and we're getting, but if we give a team all those extra possessions, it's really hard to win. That was the story of the game. We're going to give up offensive rebounds because they're bigger, but we can't give up 18.
"I thought Tre had a great game. It was nice to see him have a breakout night. He had a good two weeks of practice, so it's good to see him coming along. It was nice to see Q be really efficient. I thought had a really good second half. I thought Mason did some good things too and the guys on the bench stepped up."
UP NEXT
The Spartans return to the court Saturday for a 5 p.m. (PT) tip-off against the Vikes at the Langley Events Centre.
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.
-TW-
