LANGLEY, British Columbia– The Trinity Westen Spartans were unable to get the weekend sweep of the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds falling 79-59 Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The loss drops the Spartans to 8-8, while the win improves the Thunderbirds to 11-5.
 
Fifth-year guard Jerric Palma (Richmond, B.C.) with 25 points, and three rebounds, and fourth-year guard David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds led the Spartans.
 
Adam Olsen with 23 points and four rebounds, and Nikola Guzina with 18 points, and three rebounds led the Thunderbirds.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the UNBC Timberwolves for their final home weekend of the conference play on February 7-8. Game times at the Langley Events Centre are set for 8 p.m. (PT) and 6 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Trevor Pridie.
"Last night we got a bunch of breaks and we hit shots, and we made big plays and tonight we missed a lot of looks and they get a lot of the kind of plays we made last night. Basketball happens that way and the number two team in the country for a reason, they're a good team. And for us to sweep them, we have to play a really, really good game, almost the perfect game.
 
They played really well tonight I thought they defended really well. It was just one of those nights where nothing really came easy for us. That being said, we're still right in the game. We were right there to get the sweep against UBC, which would have been huge. But they played well, they deserved to win that one. ?
 
"Jarric was really good tonight, and I thought he shot the ball really well, and he kept us in the game. Adam Olsen was really good for them tonight. I think that is the best I've seen him play."

 AS IT HAPPENED
The first quarter was evenly played with neither team being able to take control as TWU and UBC were tied 20-20 after the first quarter. TWU shot 50 percent (7-14), while UBC shot 64.3 percent (9-14). UBC started to take control of the second quarter and with the Spartans leading 27-26, the Thunderbirds used a 12-4 run to take a 38-31 lead into the halftime break. TWU shot 40.7 percent (11-27), while UBC shot 57.1 percent (16-28).
 
TWU was the slightly better team in the third quarter as they outscored UBC 20-18 to make it a five-point deficit, 56-51, heading into the final quarter. The Thunderbirds had threatened to run away with the game as they led by 11 points, 52-41 with three minutes remaining. But the Spartans finished with a 10-4 run to cut into the Thunderbird lead. TWU shot 36.8 percent (7-19) in the quarter, while UBC shot 35 percent (7-20). The Thunderbirds started the final quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 10-point lead, 63-53. TWU pushed to close the gap but were unable to get any closer, falling by twenty points.
 
NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 35.5 percent (22-62) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-19) from the three-point line, and 52.9 percent (9-17) from the foul line. While the Thunderbirds shot 47.6 percent (30-63), 33.3 percent (5-15), and 82.4 percent (14-17) respectively.
• The Thunderbirds had a 48-31 edge in rebounding.
• TWU had an 18-10 edge in steals. The Spartans had 19 turnovers to the Thunderbirds 24.
• The Spartans defeated the Thunderbirds 83-68 Friday night at the Langley Events Centre.
• TWU lost to the UBC 99-78 on November 2 to open up Canada West play earlier this year.
• The Spartans are currently 16-62 lifetime against the Thunderbirds.
• The last time Trinity Western had a double-digit win over UBC was a 96-73 win on February 21, 2004, in the Canada West playoffs at UBC.
• TWU's largest margin of victory over UBC is 24 points, 83-59, January 21, 2000.
• Connor Platz currently has 166 total blocks in Canada West conference games. He is now tied with Brett Layton (MRU) for third spot with 166. Myron Dean (MAN) holds the CW career block record with 197.
• Platz leads CW with a career average of 2.55 blocks per game. Including tonight, TWU has six games left in the CW regular season. This puts him on pace to move into second spot in CW by the end of the season. Greg Stewart (TRU) is second with 174.
• Marcus Shankar is currently at 47.5 percent for three-point shooting percentage.  TWU's current record is 46.3 percent set by Daniel Horner in the 2010-11 season, when TWU made it to the U SPORTS championship final and came second to Carlton.

 
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.
 
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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