TORONTO, Ontario –Trinity Western fourth-year guard Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) lit it up for 28 points and five rebounds to lead the Spartans to a 67-61 victory over the York Lions Saturday afternoon at the York University Athlete Empowered Classic tournament at the Tait McKenzie Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

The Spartans led for the majority of the contest and withstood a late push by the Lions in the fourth quarter to hold on for the six-point win. TWU led 17-12 after the first quarter, 40-31 at the half, and 56-46 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Third-year guard Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C.) added 11 points, and four assists to the Spartans cause, while Bilan Khadar with 18 points and Kiara Leveridge with 13 points led the Lions.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"Today's game was a physically tough game and it was nice to see us continue to grow in handling pressure and learning through the struggle. We didn't close out the game the way we would have wanted to but those are perfect learning moments for the importance of doing the little things well when the other team needs to make a push."

On Jayden Gill's performance:
"Jayden really set the tone and demonstrated her full toolkit today. Fun to watch her keep going to what's working and then adapting when defense takes something away. She really set herself apart in establishing the tempo, attacking the rim, and knocking down big threes anytime they gave her space."

NOTABLE

• TWU shot 39.4 percent (26-66) from the field, 44.4 percent (8-18) from the three-point line, and 58.3 percent (7-12) from the foul line, while York shot 36.6 percent (26-71), 9.1 percent (1-11), and 57.1 percent (8-14) respectively.
• The Spartans had a 36-33 edge in rebounding.
• TWU's bench outscored York's bench 24-15.

UP NEXT
The Spartans finish the York University Athlete Empowered Classic tournament tomorrow morning against the Concordia Stingers at 9 a.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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