LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans' defence shut down the UBC Okanagan Heat over the final five minutes as the Spartans prevailed with a 75-56 victory Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. TWU outscored UBCO 13-2 over the final six minutes to earn the win and improve to 7-2 in conference play, while the loss dropped the Heat to 5-4. The win also extends the Spartans' winning streak to five games.
 
TWU led 43-28 at the end of the first half.
 
Moriah Jansen with 19 points, five rebounds, and three steals, Savannah Vander Kooi with 12 points and eight rebounds, Sydney Bradshaw with 12 points, and Cassidy Buchanan with a double-double of 10 points and 11 assists to go with six rebounds led the Spartans. Tennyson McCarthy with 11 points and five rebounds, and Stef Hart with 11 points and four rebounds led the Heat.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Heat will match up again tomorrow night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Game time is set for 4 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Cheryl Jean-Paul, TWU Head Coach
"This is a great team win. Having four players in double digits is something we've been trying to work towards. Obviously, we have some weapons that have distinguished themselves fairly regularly throughout the first part of this regular season. Still, it's nice to see others step up,
I thought that we moved the ball really well. Having 17 assists really creates wide-open mid-range jumpers and three-point shots. We were very unselfish with the basketball today, and the second efforts were great."
 
"We have to clean up some of our foul situations, and we need to manage some of their isolation scoring looks a little bit better, but I thought that bending but not breaking was kind of the theme today."
 
"Looking forward to learning some things through film and taking that into tomorrow's game, we know tomorrow's going to be another tough battle, and we're going to have to find ways to score on the second night when they've had 40 minutes of playing against us and know what we're trying to do. So, it'll be a good test for us to see what night two looks like this weekend."
 
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out strong, as a Moriah Jansen jumper put TWU up 10 points, 21-11, with just under two minutes left in the quarter. The teams traded points in the final minutes, with TWU leading 25-16 at the end of the opening quarter. Buchanan extended the Spartans' lead to 13 points, 29-16, 1:11 into the second quarter. A spinning layup by Van der Hoven put TWU up 36-25 with 2:15 to go in the half. TWU extended the lead to 16 points, 41-25, before a three-pointer by UBC Okanagan's Aiko Williams with 25 seconds left cut the lead to 13 points. But the Spartans finished with a Sydney Bradshaw layup to make it a 15-point, 43-28, TWU lead at the half.
 
The Spartans extended their lead to 19 points, 47-28, but the Heat gradually crawled back into the game, and a pair of Tennyson McCarthy foul shots made it a 10-point, 55-45, game after three quarters. With 1:30 gone in the final quarter, the Spartans' lead had shrunk to single digits, leading 59-52. But in the final five minutes, the Spartans' defence stepped up, allowing the Heat only one field goal, while the Spartans went on a 16-4 run to secure the win.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 41.9 percent (31-74) from the field, 26.1 percent (6-23) from the three-point line, and 53.8 percent (7-13) from the foul line, while UBC Okanagan shot 29.9 percent (20-67), 22.2 percent (4-18) and 66.7 percent (12-18) respectively.
• TWU had a 50-43 edge in rebounds, 11-8 in steals and 17-10 in assists.
• Last week, the Spartans swept the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 64-37 and 67-44 in Kamloops, B.C.
• The Heat swept the UNBC Timberwolves 72-48 and 61-40 at home in Kelowna, B.C.
• TWU is currently 21-8 lifetime against the UBC Okanagan Heat.
• Last year in conference play, the Spartans lost two of three. TWU's last win against UBC Okanagan was 73-59 on November 15 in Kelowna, B.C.

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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