LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans had a cold shooting night as they dropped a 93-82 game to a hot shooting UBC Thunderbird squad Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 0-2 in conference play, while the win improves the Thunderbirds to 2-0.
Fourth-year guard Tyus Devries (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 14 points and six rebounds, fourth-year guard
Marcus Shankar (Campbell River, B.C.) with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists, first-year guard
Logan Stewart (Langley, B.C.) with 11 points, and third-year guard
Pearse Long (Temecula, Calf.) with 11 points all hit double-digit scoring for the Spartans. While Nikola Guzina, Nylan Rogerts, and Tobi Akinkunmi all had 14 points for the Thunderbirds.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the Fraser Valley Cascades on October 31 at 8 p.m. (PT) and November 1 at 6 p.m. (PT). Both games are at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie, TWU Head Coach
"Execution and mental toughness weren't good enough tonight. We've been through a tough couple of days with a really demanding schedule to start the season, and mental toughness and execution are what it takes to push through that. Tonight, we just didn't have either of those. We had a chance in the second quarter and made a really nice run, but we missed some easy ones and free throws that you have to make in order to capitalize on if you want to win these kinds of games."
AS IT HAPPENED
The Thunderbirds opened the first quarter with a strong offensive game to lead 33-19 at the end of the opening 10 minutes. UBC continued to outscore TWU over the second quarter to lead by 18 points, 53-35 at the half.
The Thunderbirds extended their lead in the third quarter to 28 points with a 25-15 quarter. TWU had its best quarter of the night in the final 10 minutes. The Spartans outscored the Thunderbirds 32-15 over the final 10 minutes, going 6-8 from the three-point line, to make the final 93-82 for the T-Birds.
NOTABLE
- The Spartans finished the night shooting 41 percent (32-78) from the field, 37.8 percent (14-37) from the three-point line, and 28.6 percent (4-14) from the foul line, while UBC shot 46.6 percent (34-73), 43.8 percent (14-32) and 91.7 percent (11-12) respectively.
- UBC had a 51-39 edge in rebounds.
- The Spartans finished with 11 turnovers and seven steals to the Thunderbirds' 14 turnovers and six steals.
- TWU lost to No. 1 Victoria 98-91 Friday night in Victoria, B.C.
- TWU is currently 16-63 lifetime against UBC. The Spartans were 1-2 against the Thunderbirds last season. The Spartans' lone win was 83-68 at home on January 31.
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and 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 33 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 U 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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