EDMONTON – Trinity Western defeated MacEwan 75-70 on Friday night at the David Atkinson Gymnasium.
 
The Spartans (7-3) were led by a strong performance from David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.), who scored 17 points while going 7-9 from the field. Mutabazi wasn't the only Spartan with a solid night as Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.), Tre Fillmore (Amarillo, Texas), and Josh Belvin (Long Beach, Calif.). With this loss, the Griffins fall to 0-11.
 
Neither team shot the ball well in Friday's victory. TWU went 7-28 from 3-point range while the Griffins stooped even lower, going 4-23 from distance.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans started well, outscoring the Griffins 26-17 in the first quarter of the game.
 
The Griffins started to counter TWU's offensive surge in the second quarter, holding the Spartans to only 11 points compared to their 15. The half ended at a 37-32 line in favour of TWU.
 
MacEwan kept their momentum going coming into the second half, outscoring TWU 17-13 in the third frame of play.
 
TWU closed the game out in the fourth, outscoring the Griffins 25-21 to earn their seventh victory of the season.
 
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie – TWU Head Coach
"It was a sloppy game for us. We really struggled to take care of the ball and we kept throwing it away in transition, which should be our strong point. I give MacEwan a lot of credit – they came out and played hard, did some good things on both ends of the floor, and made it tough for us to score. We need to come out with a better focus and intensity tomorrow. Hopefully we come home with the sweep."
 
NOTABLE

• Austin Galuppo (Los Angeles) made his season debut on Friday night. Galuppo scored two 3-pointers in the win.
• TWU is 4-3 all-time against MacEwan with their last matchup taking place at the Canada West Playoffs on Mar. 3, 2022. The Spartans defeated the Griffins 115-78.

UP NEXT
The Spartans play the rematch with the Griffins on Saturday at the David Atkinson Gymnasium at 4 p.m. MT.

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 32 Canada West team championships.

-TW-