LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western's Jerric Palma scored a season-high 25 points to lead the Spartans to an 84-63 win over Thompson Rivers Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
Palma went six for six from 3-point range in the first half to spark the Spartans to a 49-28 lead at the break and the Spartans held the WolfPack off the rest of the night on route to a 19-point victory.
 
The wins sees the Spartans improve to 2-5, while the WolfPack drops to 3-4.
 
TWU had four players hit double digits in scoring with Marcus Shankar putting up 17 points to equal his career-high, while David Mutabazi had 12 points and game-high seven rebounds, and Aristote Kalala had 11 points. Shankar's previous career high of 17 points also came against TRU on Nov. 4, 2023.
 
Asher Mayan had a team-high 17 points for TRU, while Denys Bachurin had 12 points and Steve Stinson had 10 points.
 
The Spartans were in control throughout the contest taking a 26-16 lead through 10 minutes and never trailed over the 40-minute contest.
 
TWU shot 51.9 per cent (14-27) from beyond the arc compared to the WolfPack, who shot 26.9 per cent (7-26).
 
The Spartans also dominated the boards, out-rebounding TRU 39-25.
 
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie, TWU Head Coach
"We needed that. We needed a game that we led the entire night and didn't have any drop-offs. It was nice to put together a game where executed from start to finish. We executed on the defensive end and the offensive end and we put it all together and it was a good 40 minutes of basketball. Obviously it helps when you shoot 51 per cent from 3-point range. That being said, I thought we got a lot of good looks, so that number should be high. You're not going to shoot like that every night but the biggest thing for me is that we got those good looks. I thought we moved the ball really well and we were super unselfish. I like how the guys are playing. We've had some really good stretches and some really good quarters, but it was nice to play a full 40 minutes.
 
"Jerric was phenomenal in the first half obviously. I thought David was super under control and made some great passes. He was so composed. Marcus was also great for us, as he has been for much of this season. We had a number of guys play really well. It was a nice team win and hopefully we can carry on and keep playing good basketball through into the break."
 
NEXT UP
The Spartans and WolfPack play the rematch Saturday at 6 p.m. at the LEC.
 
NOTABLE
·       TWU has won back-to-back games, having earned their first win of the season Nov. 16 against UBC Okanagan (83-73).
·       TWU is now 25-13 all-time against TRU and have won seven of their last eight meetings.
·       TWU once again played without injured Connor Platz.
 
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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