BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Trinity Western's Jerric Palma (Richmond, B.C.) put up 33 points to lead the Spartans, but TWU lost 100-96 in overtime against Western Washington University (NCAA Div. II) Wednesday at Carver Gym.
 
Palma was seven for 14 from 3-point range to help lead TWU, who rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit.
 
David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) and Tyrone Asenoguan (Richmond, B.C.) added 14 points apiece, while Juice Belvin (Long Beach, Calif.) had 12 points. Belvin led TWU with six rebounds.
 
WWU had six players hit double digits in scoring, led by Louis Grante-Halliday, who had 18 points to go with 18 rebounds.
 
The Spartans are now 2-1 against university competition in the preseason, with previous wins over Western (U SPORTS) and Simon Fraser (NCAA Div. II).
 
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie, TWU Head Coach
"It was another close game for us. It was a cool experience to go down there and play Western Washington in their gym. I thought this preseason has showed us some of our weaknesses and some things we need to clean up before the season starts, which is important to see. This was a quality game to learn from. I thought Jerric played really well and Tyrone had a really good game for us. A bunch of guys stepped up. It was good to see Caleb Gremaud (Kamloops, B.C.) get some more minutes and I thought he was really good too. It's always tough to lose one in overtime and I felt we let it slip away a bit and beat ourselves down the stretch, but it's a learning experience. Now we have two more games in our preseason to keep getting better."

NEXT UP
The Spartans will travel to Edmonton for their final preseason action with games against MacEwan Friday at 7 p.m. (MT) and Saturday against Alberta at 2 p.m. (MT). TWU opens the Canada West regular season Oct. 31 at home against three-time defending conference champion Victoria.
 
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 and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others. 
 
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