KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans left Kamloops, B.C. with a weekend split after falling to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 79-62 Saturday night at the Tournament Capital Centre. TWU and TRU are now both 1-1 after the opening weekend of Canada West men's basketball competition.
TWU trailed 51-33 at the half.

Third-year centre Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) with a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds, with four blocks, fourth-year guard Josh Belvin (Long Beach, Calf.) with 11 points, and second-year guard Marcus Shankar (Campbell River, B.C.), and third-year guard Mitch Morgan (Vancouver, B.C.) with 10 points each led the Spartans. Jason Okoro with 17 points, Evan Smith with 17 points, and Cyrus Harrison with 16 points and eight rebounds led the WolfPack.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
" "I thought we came out strong in the first, playing our pace and getting what we wanted offensively, but we got into foul trouble in the second and, like yesterday, they got hot from 3-point range. It's tough to get a sweep in Canada West. It's even harder to come back from a double-digit deficit two games in a row. We didn't have the magic tonight. We have lots to work on for Regina next weekend."

NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 36.5 percent (23-63) from the field, 25 percent (9-36) from the three-point line, and 58.3 percent (7-12) from the foul line. TRU shot 38.2 percent (29-76), 30.8 percent (8-26), and 86.7 percent (13-15) respectively.
• The WolfPack outrebounding the Spartans 48-45. TWU had a 6-1 edge in blocks.
• 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 24-12 lifetime against the WolfPack.
• Prior to tonight, the last time the Spartans lost to the WolfPack was November 2, 2019, 85-70, in Kamloops, B.C.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head home for their Canada West home openers against the Regina Cougars on November 10-11. Game time at the Langley Events Centre are set for 8 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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