TORONTO, Ontario – The Trinity Western Spartans jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back as they defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 73-52 to open the York University Athlete Empowered Classic tournament Friday afternoon at the Tait McKenzie Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

The Spartans led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter, but expanded their lead to 14 points, 37-23 at the half, before finishing with the 21-point victory.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"Today was a solid team effort and a big step forward from last weekend with our defensive statement throughout the game. We had multiple contributors on offence but more importantly, we applied and maintained pressure. We didn't start last weekend the way we wanted to but this was a great start to a tough weekend of competition and we want to continue growing from this experience."

UP NEXT
The Spartans will continue the York University Athlete Empowered Classic tournament with a matchup with host York University tomorrow at 12 p.m. (ET). TWU opens up Canada West conference play on November 3-4 in Kamloops, B.C. against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. Game time is at 5:30 p.m. both nights and 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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