LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western fell 83-74 to No. 8-ranked UBC in their annual return to the David E. Enarson Gym on Friday night.
UBC's (2-1) James Woods took over the game, scoring 35 points while grabbing eight rebounds in the Thunderbirds' victory. The Spartans (3-2) were led by
Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.), who scored 14 points while adding six assists and seven rebounds.
The game tilted in UBC's favour early as the Spartans found themselves down 43-27 heading into the second half.
AS IT HAPPENED
The first quarter was a struggle for the Spartans. TWU came out cold, going 3-18 from the field with only one of 12 attempts from 3-point range dropping. The Thunderbirds went 8-21 from the field, wrapping the quarter up leading 20-11.
More UBC pressure came in the second quarter, outscoring the Spartans 23-16 to end the first half at a 43-27 advantage in front of the home fans.
The Spartans outscored the Thunderbirds 24-21 in the third quarter with a 4-6 clip from 3-point range highlighting their performance.
TWU outscored UBC again in the fourth (23-19), but the Thunderbirds held on for their second victory of the season, winning 83-74.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"Cool atmosphere. It's always fun playing here, and fans were awesome – it was super cool to play in front of that crowd. I'm proud of the effort the guys put out tonight. The guys have been sick this week, so to come out and work like this shows a lot of heart. I was really impressed with that.
"We didn't shoot well early, and we came out flat, so that put us at an uphill battle early. It's not easy having a start like that. We did fight back, but they made some timely shots. [James] Woods is a really special player – he had a crazy night. We're going to have to do a better job on him.
"Proud of the guys in what was a gutsy effort. I thought Mason [Bourcier] played well. I thought we were fine offensively, but we had some struggles on the defensive end. Overall, a gutsy effort. Being sick and not practicing all week with this kind of effort is good. We're hoping we can get one tomorrow."
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 14-58 all-time against UBC.
• UBC shot 43.7 percent from the field, the Spartans shot 36.8 percent.
UP NEXT
The Spartans rematch the Thunderbirds at the David E. Enarson Gym at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday.
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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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