LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by third-year guard David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) with 34 points, six assists, and four rebounds, and third-year centre Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) with 26 points, five rebounds, and five blocked shots, the Trinity Western Spartans defeated the No. 1 ranked Victoria Vikes 92-85 in overtime Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The win moves the Spartans to 2-10, while the loss the Vikes to 8-2.

Victoria led 46-43 at half-time, with the two teams being tied at 77-77 after regulation.

Third-year guard Leif Skelding (Coquitlam, B.C.) was also instrumental off of the bench for the Spartans finishing with 11 points, six assists, and six rebounds. Victoria, who were playing without Canada West Player of the Year point guard Diego Maffia, were led by Renoldo Robinson with 28 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, and Griffin Arnatt with 16 points, and six rebounds.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Vikes came out strong and dominated the Spartans at the start to take a 10-0 lead. Victoria expanded the lead to 12 points, 23-11, before TWU got their legs under themselves with just over three minutes to go in the first quarter. Over the final three minutes, TWU outscored Victoria, 9-2, to trail by five points, 25-20, after the opening quarter.

The second quarter was evenly played with Victoria taking a three-point lead, 46-43 into the half-time break.

The third saw the Spartans play slightly better as TWU took its first lead of the game, 57-56, with 49 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Spartans were able to extend the lead to four points, 60-56, as the buzzer sounded.

TWU looked to have the game well in hand as the final quarter progressed. The Spartans looked like they had their first win locked up with a 10 points, 74-64 lead with 4:10 remaining in the quarter. But the No. 1 Vikes did not relent and outscored TWU 13-3 to send the game into overtime tied at 77-77.

The overtime was even to start. But TWU exploded in the middle part of the five-minute overtime to turn a one-point deficit, 80-79, into a six-point lead, 86-80, by scoring seven straight points. Victoria cut the lead to a three points, 88-85, but could get no closer as the Spartans secured the win with four straight points to win 92-85.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"David and Connor were both phenomenal. It was good to see Connor get inside and dominate. I thought he's had a lot of games recently where he's had some good post moves, but they just haven't been falling for him. So it was nice to see them actually fall. He was an anchor for us. David was unreal once again and he really carried us. The story of the game though was our bench. Tonight they really showed up and I couldn't be happier for them. I thought Leif was our MVP tonight. I thought he ran the show, controlled the pace for us and made timely buckets. He hit a couple of big threes and he was awesome. That was the best game I've ever seen him play. Mitch Morgan came in and hit a big three when we needed it. I thought Marcus made some big buckets for us. Vlad had seven assists tonight and did some good things. I just thought we had a lot of guys step up and contribute to a really good team win.

"Our Achilles heel this year has been turnovers and tonight we had 10 turnovers and 27 assists, which is by far our best number we've had all year. The ball was moving and we had more player movement and we had a good pace. We beat a really good UVIC team. Even when they're shorthanded, they're a very strong team. We've had so many close ones against good teams, so it feels good to be on the winning side of one of these. The guys came together and never lost composure and kept playing. Now we have to get a winning streak going."

NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 49.3 percent (37/75) from the field, 24.2 percent (8/33) from the three-point line, and 62.5 percent (10/16) from the foul line. Victoria finished shooting 39.5 percent (30/76), 35.1 percent (13/37), and 75 percent (1216) respectively.
• The Victoria had a 51-35 edge in rebounding, while the Spartans had an 7-3 edge in steals.
• Friday night the Spartans lost 93-89 to the Vikes
• The Spartans are 21-48 lifetime against the Vikes.
• The last time the Spartans defeated the Vikes was 71-61 on November 16, 2012. A 19-game losing streak.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now travel to Calgary to take on the Calgary Dinos on January 19-20. Game time at the Jack Simpson Gym is set for 8 p.m. (MT) on both nights. 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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