MBB at TRU
91
Winner Trinity Western Spartans (M) TWU 0
86
Thompson Rivers WolfPack (M) TRU 0
Winner
Trinity Western Spartans (M) TWU
0
91
Final
86
Thompson Rivers WolfPack (M) TRU
0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Trinity Western Spartans (M) TWU 20 16 25 30 91
Thompson Rivers WolfPack (M) TRU 15 38 19 14 86

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

SPARTANS FINISH STRONG TO EARN WIN OVER WOLFPACK

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – A dominating fourth quarter and a career night by third-year guard David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) allowed the Trinity Western Spartans to rally for a 91-86 win over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack to open conference play Friday night at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C.

TWU trailed 53-36 at the end of the first half, and 73-61 after three quarters. The Spartans were outstanding in the fourth outscoring the WolfPack 30-14 to earn the five-point win.

The Spartans had four players reach double-digits in scoring. In addition to Mutabazi TWU had fourth-year guard Josh Belvin (Long Beach, Calf.) with 21 points, second-year guard Marcus Shankar (Campbell River, B.C.) with 17 points, and seven rebounds, and fourth-year guard Vlad Mihaila (Surrey, B.C.) with 12 points. Cyrus Harrison with 18 points, and 11 rebounds, Daniel Bost with 14 points, and Evan Smith with 13 points led the WolfPack, who had five players hit double-digit scoring.

AS IT HAPPENED
Q1: A 38.9 – 28.6 edge in shooting percentage for the visitors allowed TWU to take a slim 20-15 lead through the opening ten minutes. Belvin and Crossfield each had seven points for their respective squads.

Q2: TRU dominated the second frame. The 'Pack shot 63 per cent from the floor and scored 38 points to carry a 53-36 advantage into the halftime break. Bost had 10 points in the quarter and Smith eight to carry TRU.

Q3: The Spartans found their own shooting groove in the third and managed to significantly cut into the WolfPack lead. TWU scored 25 points in the frame while out-rebounding TRU 10-3 to shrink the lead to 11 points heading into the fourth.

Q4: A resilient Spartan squad completed the comeback in the fourth. A 21-8 TWU run through the opening portion of the quarter saw the teams tied at 82-82 with just over four minutes left to play. From there Mutabazi scored seven points down the stretch to secure the victory.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
" Our guys fought back down 17 against a really tough, hungry team and a great crowd. David had a monster fourth quarter for us. Juice [Josh Belvin] hit some big shots. Connor [Platz] had a tough shooting night but made some huge passes out of the double team. If this is any indication of the heart of this team, nobody should ever count us out of anything."

NOTABLE
  • In the Canada West preseason coaches' poll the Spartans are ranked No. 7, while the WolfPack are ranked No. 13.
  • TWU finished the preseason at 4-3, while TRU finished at 4-2.
  • The Spartans are 24-11 lifetime against the WolfPack.
  • In their last conference meeting TWU defeated TRU 94-78 on January 15, 2022.
  • The last time the Spartans lost to the WolfPack was November 2, 2019, 85-70, in Kamloops, B.C.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish the weekend series with the WolfPack tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m. (PT) at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The game 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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