VANCOUVER – Trinity Western returned to the court for the first time in three weeks, coming up just short against No. 5-ranked UBC, falling 78-68 Friday at War Memorial Gym. 

The Spartans ailed by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter, but closed the gap to just four points, 71-67, with 3:03 to play. However, that was as close at TWU came, with UBC (9-0) holding off the Spartans down the stretch for a 10-point victory. 

Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) led TWU in scoring with 27 points, while Tre Fillmore (Amarillo) and Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) added 11 points apiece. Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) had a team-high eight rebounds to go with seven points. 

UBC's James Woods led the T-Birds with 24 points, while Brian Wallack had a double-double, putting up 13 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. 

The T-Birds led the way on the glass out-rebounding TWU 56-34. TWU had a better overall shooting percentage (39.3% compared 36.6%), but UBC put up 82 total shots, making 32, while TWU had just 56 shots, making 22. 

AS IT HAPPENED 
TWU raced out to a 12-6 lead in the first quarter, looking strong early on, before taking a 17-15 lead into the second frame. 

The second quarter was a different story, with UBC seizing momentum and outscoring the Spartans 21-9 over the 10-minute period and grabbing a 36-26 lead at the break. 

UBC kept rolling in the third quarter, opening a 20-point lead, at 53-33, but the Spartans pushed back and, with a lay-up from Platz, TWU brought the T-Birds lead back to 14 points (60-46) through 30 minutes. 

In the fourth quarter, a no-quit Spartans side found serious life with eight minutes to play. A lay-up from Fillmore sparked a 17-4 TWU run that made it a game with three minutes to play. However, 12 seconds later Gilbreath fouled out and while momentum was moving to the Spartans side, eventually a 3-pointer from Woods with 1:05 to play pushed UBC's lead back to seven points, which all but ended TWU's comeback hopes. 

QUOTABLE
TWU Men's Basketball Coach Trevor Pridie
"Obviously rebounding was a huge issue for us tonight, but I thought defensively in the halfcourt, we guarded their offence well. It's just the offensive rebounding and their second-chance points made it really tough for us. I'm really proud of the way the guys battled. The guys hung together and battled back and I thought we had a real chance their near the end. UBC is a really good team and I thought our guys did a really good job of staying in it."

NOTABLE 
•    The Spartans were 18-28 from the free throw line while UBC was nine for 10. 
•    Friday's contest was the second meeting of the season between the teams in Vancouver, with the T-Birds winning the season-opener 97-80 (Oct. 28).
•    TWU hadn't played since Nov. 13, with their weekend series against Thompson Rivers, which was originally set for last weekend, postponed to Jan. 7-8, due to the flooding in B.C. 

NEXT UP
The Spartans will now prepare for their rematch with UBC Saturday at 7 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym. 

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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