KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Led by double-doubles from
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath, 27 points, 12 rebounds, and
Mason Bourcier, 13 points, 14 assists, 7 rebounds the Trinity Western Spartans dominated the Thompson Rivers WolfPack to coast to a 88-75 victory Wednesday night at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. TWU, who led by as many as 31 points in the fourth quarter, improve to 8-9, while TRU drops to 4-12 on the season.
Bourcier's 14 assists set a new TWU single game assist record. Bourcier was also three rebounds shy of his fourth triple-double of the season. The Canada West career record for triple-doubles is also four, Erfan Nasajpour, Winnipeg.
Connor Platz added a career best 17 points to go with five rebounds for the Spartans. Thomas Olsen with 17 points and six rebounds, while Simon Crossfield with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Brendan Sullivan with 10 points and five rebounds led the WolfPack.
AS IT HAPPENED
Both teams struggled from the field in the early going. It took 1:39 before TRU's Brendan Sullivan opened the scoring. A
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath 3-point basket at 5:28 gave TWU their first lead of the game at 7-6. With three minutes to go in the opening quarter the two teams were tied at 11-11. But over the final three minutes the Spartans were able to go on a 9-3 run to take a20-14 lead after the first quarter.
The Spartans added to their lead and after a dunk by
Andrew Goertzen led the WolfPack 26-18. However, Goertzen's dunk damaged the rim and the teams were sent to the locker rooms while it was replaced. Out of the break TWU quickly built a 13 point, 34-21, lead with a 9-3 run. The two teams exchanged baskets over the final three minutes of the quarter as TWU finished the first half with a 41-28 lead. Gilbreath continued to lead all scorers with 16 points, with
Connor Platz adding 11 points for TWU. Simon Crossfield led the WolfPack with 10 points. TWU finished the half shooting 36.8 percent (14-38) from the field, 29.4 percent (5-17) from the three point line, and 88.9 percent (8-9) from the foul line, while TRU shot 26.3 percent (10-38), 23.5 percent (4-17) and 80 percent (4-5) respectively.
Trinity Western dominated the third quarter. Five minutes into the quarter TWU had outscored TRU 15-6 to take a 22 point lead, 56-34. The Spartans continued their strong play over the second half of the quarter as the finished the first 30 minutes of the contest with a 26 point, 71-45, lead.
With the contest pretty much decided the fourth quarter was an opportunity for bench players to get significant minutes for both teams. TWU expanded their lead to 31 points, 86-55, before TRU outscored the Spartans 20-2 over the final 3:30 minutes to make the final 88-75 for TWU. The Spartans finished the night shooting 41.3 percent (31-75) from the field, 25 percent (8-32) from the three point line and 90 percent (18-20) from the foul line, while the WolfPack shot 35.9 percent, (28-78), 25 percent (8-32), and 61.1 percent (11-18).
NOTABLE
- The game was delayed for 40 minutes after a hoop malfunctioned and had to be replaced with 5:56 minutes remaining in the second quarter with TWU leading 26-18. The teams used their half time break during the delay. There was a two minute break between the second and third quarter.
- TWU's last season at .500 or better was 2012-13, when they finished at 12-10.
- Since losing their first seven games of the season, TWU has gone 8-2 over their last 10 games as they currently sit in four place in the West Division of Canada West.
- Gilbreath leads the nation in scoring at 27.2 points per game. The Canada West single season scoring average is 34.2, Richard Bohne, Calgary 1994-95. Gilbreath currently sits 8th all-time in CW history.
- Mason Bourcier leads U SPORTS in assists per game at 7.9.
- The current TWU single season points/game record is 22.2, which was set by Jacob Doerksen in 2010-11. The current Spartan records for assists/game in a season is 5.9, which was set by Tristan Smith in 2011-12.
- Bourcier currently has 135 assists on the season, with one game remaining. Smith holds the TWU record at 145.
- Bourcier's 14 assists breaks the TWU single game assist record of 13 assists. Adam Friesen vs Regina, March 1, 2003, Ethan DaSilva at Lethbridge January 25, 2019 and Bourcier twice this season were all tied with 13 assists in a game.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will have a quick turnaround as they will head to Prince George to take on the UNBC Timberwolves for the final Canada West conference game on the season. Tip off on Saturday, February 19 is set for 3 p.m. PT. The game 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.
-TW-
