ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) put down Trinity Western's first official triple-double in program history against Fraser Valley on Friday as the Spartans won 97-87 at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The Spartans (3-7) rode Bourcier's hot hand. Bourcier scored 15 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. The fourth-year guard also tied TWU's single-game assist record, tossing out 13 dimes en route to TWU's third consecutive victory. The Cascades (4-4) were held in the game by a sharp-shooting performance from Jake Willemsen. The Tsawwassen, B.C. native shot 4-9 from 3-point range to score a team-high of 16 points.
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) also exploded for 27 points, six assists, and seven rebounds.
Tre Fillmore (Amarillo, Texas),
Sam Dyck (Almonte, Ont.), and
Vlad Mihaila (Surrey, B.C.) joined Bourcier and Gilbreath in double-digits for scoring on the night.
AS IT HAPPENED
Neither team could truly take hold of the game throughout the first 10 minutes of play. The Spartans were led by
Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) who facilitated a fast-paced offence. On the other end, Vick Toor led the Cascades with six points. UFV slowed the pace of play down, drawing fouls while pounding the rock into the paint to take a 23-21 lead at the quarter's end.
Both teams traded blows throughout the early stages of the second quarter. The Spartans continued to push the pace, allowing
Andrew Goertzen (Langley, B.C.) to get in for back-to-back dunks, forcing UFV into a timeout. Goertzen's dunks built enough momentum for the Spartans to surge. With TWU dominating the perimeter thanks to
Tre Fillmore's (Amarillo, Texas) outstanding shooting, the paint opened up for
Sam Dyck (Almonte, Ont.) who put down 11 points and four rebounds at the half. The Spartans were dialled in, outscoring the Cascades 30-16 to move to a lopsided 51-39 lead at the half.
The Spartans never looked back after their strong play in the third quarter, maintaining their lead to eventually end the half at a 77-61 lead.
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath heated up in the last half of action while the Cascades found their footing. The game rolled to a 97-87 close in favour of the visiting Spartans.
NOTABLE
• Bourcier's 13 assists tied TWU's program record of 13, which is held by Adam Friesen and Ethan DaSilva.
• TWU's current three-game win streak is their biggest since the 2012-13 season, when the Spartans rode a win streak of six games.
• While Bourcier's triple double stands as the first official time it has been done in program history,
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath achieved the same feat in the 2019-20 season against UBC on Jan. 9
th, 2020. Gilbreath's line of 33 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds was not recorded due to ineligibility issues.
• Bourcier's triple-double stands as the 18th in Canada West history.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"We've had some monster players in our last four games. Q [
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath] is scoring really well, Mason [Bourcier] is playing out of his mind, we have different guys stepping up too. Sam [Dyck] scored 15 off the bench tonight, running the floor on some massive plays, Andrew [Goertzen] was awesome, so it's good to see that we're playing team basketball. We had 26 assists tonight, so it's not a one-man show. We use the saying 'don't blink' to identify the way we want to play, which is a fast-paced, ball-moving offence. Now that our guys are starting to find their role within that we're starting to see things come together.
"Mason is running the show for us at the point and Q is the best scorer in the country. He's picking his spots really well, so the way he is scoring is so efficient. He's shoot 50 percent from the field on many nights. Whenever we need a big bucket, he comes through. Mason controls our pace really well too. We're becoming a real team.
"We're starting to get some big stops defensively too, that has been really important for us to build, and keep our leads in the last two games."
TWU Guard Mason Bourcier
"The way our team plays allows me to have a lot of freedom on both offence and defence. Since we're a smaller team I get a lot of opportunities to get rebounds, and push the pace for us to have more possessions. The way our offence runs, and the way I play to my strengths gives me a lot of opportunity to get assists and rebounds. Our guys are playing great, Tre [Fillmore], Q, and
Andrew Goertzen are all shooting really well too.
"We haven't had much consistency due to other things going on, and just not being able to play as much as we'd like to. I didn't play for two and a half years, so it's going to take some time to get that offensive groove back. Getting back in the gym, playing, not having games cancelled, these are all things that we need to have in order for us to get into that groove. We had four weeks in a row where we had postponed games. Now that we're getting consistent games it's been good getting to mesh on the court. We all love playing with each other, so getting this consistency has been really good for us.
"This year has been a completely different experience for me. I've always been with winning programs, so I get to use my ability and mentality here. For me, our first win against Thompson Rivers just felt like another one, but that was some of the guys' first win in four years, so you don't recognize that until you see the smiles on their faces. It's not just about basketball for us, we're getting uplifted on a mental standpoint just by winning games. This is a legacy we want to build in turning this program around that has been yearning for a good team for a while. It's really cool being a part of something new as we try to revitalize this basketball program."
NEXT UP
TWU will take play at UFV again tomorrow at 4 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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