TORONTO, Ontario – Third-year guard
Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C.) and fourth-year guard
Kailey Reimer (Abbotsford, B.C.) combined went 4-4 from the foul line, in the final 39 seconds to lead the Trinity Western Spartans on a 4-0 run and a 56-55 victory over the Concordia Stingers Sunday afternoon at the York University Athlete Empowered Classic tournament at the Tait McKenzie Centre in Toronto, Ontario. With the win, the Spartans finish the tournament 3-0 after wins over Toronto, York and Concordia.
The Stingers led for the majority of the game. Leading 14-7 after the first quarter, 26-22 at the half, and 43-38 with 10 minutes to go.
Fourth-year guard
Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.), who was named tournament MVP, led the Spartans with 14 points. Reimer, who it the game-winning free throws, and second-year guard
Cassidy Buchanan (Aldergrove, B.C.) also hit double digits with 10 points each for the Spartans. While Areej Burgonio with 22 points, and Angela Batria with 13 points led the Stingers in scoring.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"Today was a great win for us. Lots of moving pieces and critical moments but we handled ourselves well and stayed composed at the end to come away with a win. Really impressed with the team's ability to find a way to win in the third game in three days. Nice to see some younger ones step into key roles defending and rebounding but we had a lot of contributors who created great opportunities for others as well."
"Jayden as tourney MVP was well-earned - she led this team from start to finish and had to play against a lot of tough defenders but kept finding ways to maintain her edge. Really excited to see what we will take away from this weekend - lots of work to still do but we made a few important statements to ourselves as we get closer to the start of regular season play."
NOTABLE
- The Spartans defeated the Toronto Blues 73-52 on Friday, and the York Lions 67-61 on Saturday.
- Gill finished the tournament with 57 total points, 19 pts/game.
- The Spartans finish the preseason 3-2.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will have a week off before opening 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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