MONTREAL – Trinity Western rallied from a 19-point third quarter deficit to beat Dalhousie University 84-78 in the Spartans final game of the Concordia Classic Sunday. 

The Spartans trailed 56-37 midway through the third quarter, but a 22-6 run to end the third quarter brought TWU within three points, 62-59, heading to the final frame.

A fourth-quarter 3-pointer from Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) with 5:18 to go tied the game 71-71 before a lay-up by Jacob Fortune (Ottawa) gave TWU its first lead of the game with 4:35 to play. From there, a 3-pointer from Tre Fillmore (Amarillo, Texas) gave TWU a five-point edge and the Spartans held a lead the rest of the way. 

Platz led TWU with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) had 15 points to go with a whopping 15 assists and eight rebounds. David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) added 14 points and eight boards, while Fillmore and Daniel Stead (Langley) had 11 points each. 

Joshua Koulamallah led Dalhousie with 26 points, while Malcolm Christie had 21 points and Matthew Smith added 10 points.

TWU out-rebounded Dalhousie 37-28. 

Bourcier's 15 assists is the most in his TWU career. He owns the TWU record for assists in a game, at 14. The Spartans official records only include Canada West regular season and playoff games. 

Platz finished with a double-double in all three games of the Concorida Classic. 

QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie – Head Coach
"It was a really good weekend for us. We went into the tournament with the mindset of progressing and starting to put a stamp on the offensive and defensive identity of the team against tough competition and we did that. It was great to see the fight in the guys today and have a comeback win against a tough team like Dal. We know what we can expect from Mase each night and how special of a player he is collecting 15 assists and leading us in that comeback, but seeing other guys continue to step up is huge for us. Connor really showed how dominant of a player he can be in this league having three straight big double-doubles."

UP NEXT 
The Spartans will now prepare for their Canada West season-opening weekend on the road against UNBC Nov. 4-5. TWU's home-opening weekend is Nov. 11-12 against Lethbridge. 

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, as well as women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 31 Canada West team championships.

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