LANGLEY, British Columbia – Guard Mason Bourcier set a program record going 15/17 from the foul line to led the Trinity Western Spartans to a 79-72, victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat Saturday evening at the David E. Enarson Gym on the campus of Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. The Spartans, who went 10/11 from the line down the stretch, improve to 5-8 with the win, while the loss drops the Heat to 1-11.
 
TWU's back court tandem of Bourcier and Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath each had a double-double scoring 26 points, while adding 11 rebounds and 13 rebounds respectively led the Spartans, while Gus Goerzen with 16 points and Kevin Hamlet and Jalen Shirley with 14 points each led the Heat in scoring.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out strong to start the game and five minutes in the game had built an 11-3 lead. TWU kept going as the quarter ended with the Spartans leading the Heat by 12 points, 21-9.
 
The second frame was more to the Heat's liking. After matching the Spartans over the first five minutes of the quarter, trailing 30-17, UBC Okanagan finished the quarter with a 13-8 run to trail by eight points, 38-30 at the end of the opening half. TWU finished the half shooting 43.2 percent (16/37), while UBC-O finished shooting 24.3 percent (9/37). Gilbreath led the Spartans with 13 points and five rebounds, while Jalen Shirley led the Heat with 10 points.
 
The Spartans were able to extend their lead to 11 points, 49-38 halfway through the third quarter, but the Heat were able to match TWU over the last five minutes as the Spartans finished the quarter with a 10 point lead, 56-46.
 
UBC Okanagan had the better of TWU to open the fourth quarter. With five minutes remaining in the game the Heat had used a 14-5 run to make it a one point game, with the Spartans leading 61-60. Over the final five minutes of the game the Spartans found many different ways to get to the foul line. With a five point lead, 72-67, TWU's Andrew Goertzen had an emphatic dunk and a foul to give TWU breathing room and extend their lead to eight points, 75-67. From there the Spartans answered from the foul line going 4/4 to seal the 79-72 win.
 
NOTABLE

• The previous free throw record was 14 makes, which was set by three different Spartans. Most recently by Denny McDonald who went 14/17 at Fraser Valley on February 15, 2014. McDonald's 17 is also the program record for attempts, which Bourcier tied tonight.
• In their last five games with the Heat TWU is (5-5).
• TWU went 2/4 from the foul line in the first half and 22/29 in the second half to finish the game 24/33. UBC-O was 9/11 from the line in the first half and finished 17/21.
• The Heat out rebounded the Spartans 29-21.
• The Spartans five wins is the most the program has had since they went 10-12 in the 2013-14 season.
• TWU has gone 5-1 over their last six games after starting the season 0-7.

 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"That was a tough game that was a battle. Those guys showed up and they were really good tonight. They were physical and they really competed. It was a really intense game, probably the most intense of the year. They are a really good team even if their record doesn't show it."
 
"It was a really good crowd and atmosphere, it is fun to play in this gym. Mason and Q were both really good for us tonight. I thought we got some timely stops and we were clutch from the free throw line down the stretch, and in a close game us making free throws down the stretch is huge."
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will host the UNBC Timberwolves on Friday, February 4 and Saturday, February 5. Game times at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. are set for 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively. Both games can be seen live on Canadawest.tv.
 
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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