LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans used a shut-down defence in the second half to overcome a nine-point deficit to defeat the Mount Royal Cougars 76-59 Friday night at the Langley, Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The victory moves the Spartans to 9-6, while the loss drops the Cougars to 6-9 in Canada West conference play.
The Spartans trailed 42-32 at the half.
Fourth-year guard
Jayden Gill (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 19 points, and two rebounds, second-year guard
Sydney Bradshaw (Langley, B.C.) with 13 points, and five rebounds, fourth-year guard
Hailey Van Roekel (Langley, B.C.) with 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists, and third-year guard
Shemaiah Abatayo (Vancouver, B.C.) with 11 points, and four rebounds led the Spartans. Nora Luca with 15 points, and seven rebounds, Jenika Martens with 15 points, and Harriette Mackenzie with 11 points, and eight rebounds led the Cougars.
AS IT HAPPENED
After falling behind early the Cougars found ways to get to the foul line in the opening half. MRU outscored TWU 14-3 in the second five minutes to lead 24-18 after the opening quarter. The Cougars expanded the lead over the second quarter to finish the first half leading the Spartans 41-32 in a high-scoring first 20 minutes.
TWU outscored MRU 25-13 in the third quarter, to take a 57-54 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. But the Spartans' defence turned the corner in the final 10 minutes as TWU outscored MRU 19-5 to earn an impressive 76-59 victory.
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Cheryl Jean-Paul
"It was a game of two halves. Defensively in the first half wasn't the statement that we wanted to make. We knew that it was going to be a physical game, but we did not manage the charge circle very well and gave up way too many free throws in the first half. But I'm really pleased with the defensive statement that we made in the second half. And, when we play defence that way, that doesn't result in free throws, it flows into our offence really nicely. The big run that we had to start the third quarter really set the tone. I was just impressed with all the little things that we had a lot of different people do tonight."
"It wasn't just our core group, it wasn't just the starters, and everybody came in and made a statement play for us. Whether it was offensively or defensively and that is what we are going to need moving forward. We took care of the basketball, we managed the boards better in the second half, and defensively we supported us each other way better and the result was great offence that comes from really good defence."
NOTABLE
- TWU finished the night shooting 42.6 percent (21/43) from the field, 27.8 percent (5/18) from the three-point line, and 86.4 percent (19/22) from the foul line. MRU finished shooting 41.3 percent (19/46), 33.3 percent (3/9), and 78.3 percent (18/23) respectively.
- TWU had a 34-30 edge in rebounding.
- The Spartans finished with 14 turnovers, while the Cougars finished with 22.
- Last week the Spartans dropped two road games to No. 4 Calgary, 90-63, and 77-70 in Calgary, Alta.
- Last week Mount Royal lost twice to the Regina Cougars in Regina, Sask. 71-52 on Friday night and 71-53 on Saturday.
- The Spartans are 9-2 lifetime against the Cougars.
- In preseason play this season the Spartans lost 65-39 to the Cougars on October 13.
- The last time the Spartans lost to the Cougars in conference play was 69-54, February 8, 2014.
- TWU is 8-1 in conference play against MRU and is currently on a five-game winning streak in conference play.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Cougars will finish up the two-game weekend series tomorrow at 4 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, 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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