EDMONTON – With five players hitting double-digits in scoring the Trinity Western Spartans dominated the MacEwan Griffins from start to finish on their way to an 87-56 victory Saturday night at the David Atkinson Gymnasium in Edmonton. The 31-point victory improves the Spartans to 8-4 while keeping the Griffins winless at 0-12.  
 
David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals, Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) with 15 points, and four assists, Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, Daniel Lybbert (Scottsdale, Ariz.) with 12 points, and Josh Belvin (Long Beach, Calf.) with 10 points, and four rebounds all hit double-digits in scoring to lead the Spartans. Matthew Osunde with 17 points was the lone Griffin to hit double-digits in scoring in the lopsided TWU victory.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The two teams were even early, with TWU holding on to a four-point, 11-7 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the open quarter. But that would be as close as the game would be, as the Spartans used a 13-5 run to break the game open and lead 24-12 at the end of the opening frame.
 
The Spartans continued their dominance in the second quarter, taking a 47-25 lead into the half-time break. The third quarter was almost identical to the second, with TWU outscoring MacEwan 22-13 to lead by 31 points, 69-38, going into the final 10 minutes. Down the stretch the two teams exchanged points as TWU came away with the 87-56 win.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"We had a much better effort and focus tonight. It's always big to get a sweep on the road and it was nice to see the response from the guys."
 
"It was great to play the bench a lot and it was awesome to see young guys like Kyle (Christoffersen, Richmond, B.C.) and Marcus (Shankar, Campbell River, B.C.) play well. Connor was fantastic and had a massive bounce-back game."
 
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 5-3 lifetime against the Griffins.
• Last night TWU defeated MacEwan 75-70.
• TWU shot 40 percent (32/80) from the field, 32.3 percent (10/31) from the three-point line, and 81.3 percent (13/16) from the foul line, while MacEwan shot 31.1 percent (19/61), 25 percent (7/28) and 57.9 percent (11/19) respectively.
• The Spartans had a 48-47 edge in rebounds, and a 12-6 edge in steals.
• TWU had 38 points in the paint, while MacEwan had 24 points in the paint.
• Platz had three blocks on the evening to bring his season total to 29 blocks, continuing to extend his TWU single-season block record.
• Platz currently has 46 career blocks. This puts him fourth on the all-time TWU blocks list, three behind Patrick Vandervelden's 49, 2014-2017. Michael Brouwer, 2004-2009, holds the record with 61.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans are now heading back to Langley to host the Alberta Golden Bears on January 13 and 14. Game times at the Langley Events Centre are set for 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday. 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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
 
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