VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans gave the UBC Thunderbirds everything they could handle before falling to the No. 4 ranked Thunderbirds 78-70 to open the second half of the Canada West season Friday night at the War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C. The win puts UBC's record at 7-4, while the loss drops TWU to 1-10.

The grind-it-out affair was close throughout with neither team leading by more than eight at any point. Both teams struggled with their outside shooting, with the Thunderbirds hitting just 24 percent of their three-point attempts and the Spartans at 19 percent.

Brian Wallack led the way for UBC with 17 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Micah Jessie and Brendan Sullivan both had strong performances off the bench – Jessie recorded 10 points, four rebounds, and a season-high six assists while Sullivan had 10 points, four rebounds and four steals, all of those numbers season-highs.

Fourth-year guard Josh Belvin (Long Beach, Calf.) powered TWU with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Second-year forward Aristotle Kalala (Cape Town, South Africa) notched his first double-double of his Spartan career with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Thunderbirds started slow, as the visitors jumped out to an early 12-5 lead before back-to-back buckets from Arnaud Konan and Victor Radocaj got the T-Birds going.
A big putback dunk by Fareed Shittu energized the crowd and cut the lead to just four but the Spartans continued to hold a narrow lead as the first quarter ended with a score of 22-17.

After a driving layup from Tobi Akinkunmi tied the score at 22, the Spartans responded with a 6-2 run of their own to take back the advantage early in the second quarter.
Neither team could create any real separation in the frame, but UBC closed the half strong with an 8-2 run capped by a fastbreak basket from Sullivan. That put the score at 36-33 in favour of the hosts at the break, with the two teams shooting a combined 6-30 from deep.

The T-Birds started the second half slow as TWU jumped out to an early 39-36 lead, before a three-pointer from Adam Olsen tied it. That was followed soon after by a sweet reverse layup from Sullivan to retake the lead.

James Woods, after battling foul trouble in the first half that limited him to just eight minutes of action, scored an and-one to stretch the lead to 52-48 late in the third, UBC's biggest advantage up to that point. The quarter ended with the T-Birds ahead 54-51.

In the fourth, the Spartans again started the quarter on the front foot with a 9-0 run. UBC, however, responded with a 6-0 run of their own.

After Wallack, who scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth, tied things up at 63 apiece it was Jessie who hit a three to put UBC ahead with five minutes to play, a lead they would never relinquish.

Crunch time featured Wallack pulling down a big offensive rebound off his own missed free throw and Sullivan hitting a dagger three-pointer to put UBC up eight, their biggest lead of the night, with just over a minute to play. The final score was 78-70 as the Thunderbirds improved to 3-1 at home this season.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"Guys played hard, happy with the effort. Great to see Aris have a breakout game and see what he can do in this league. Defensively we are playing really well but just struggle offensively with turnovers and execution down the stretch. We are playing top teams in the country close down to the wire which is a great sign for a young group but need to start winning some of these close games. Thought foul trouble was a big issue for us tonight and it's tough to beat a team that shoots 27 free throws in the second half and you have key guys foul out of the game. Proud of the guys to come out on the road against a top team and fight like we did."

NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night shooting 35.7 percent (25/70) from the field, 19.2 percent 5/26) from the three-point line, and 68.2 percent (15/22) from the foul line. UBC finished shooting 33.8 percent (25/74), 24.1 percent (7/29) and 67.7 percent (21/31) respectively.
• Both teams finished the night with 51 rebounds, while the Spartans had a 7-2 edge in blocked shots.
• In their last conference games of the first semester TWU lost to Manitoba 75-70, and 75-63 on December 1-2 at home at the LEC.
• In UBC's last conference games the Thunderbirds defeated the MacEwan Griffins 84-67, and 96-63, on December 1 and 2 in Edmonton, Alta.
• The Spartans are 15-59 lifetime against the Thunderbirds.
• Last season the Spartans split with the Thunderbirds losing 83-74, and winning 96-94 in November 18-19 Langley, B.C.
• TWU defeated the TRU WolfPack 86-75 in a non-conference game on December 30 at the LEC.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Thunderbirds will match up again tomorrow night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen live on Canadawest.TV. The Spartans and Bisons will match up again tomorrow night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. for the final games of the opening semester. Game time is set for 6 p.m. 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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