LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans used a strong second half to earn an 80-70 win over the visiting Thompson Rivers WolfPack Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Led by third-year guard Jack Vandenberg's (Vancouver, B.C.) 23 points, five assists, and four rebounds, the Spartans improve to 6-11 in Canada West, while the WolfPack fall to 10-7.
 
Fourth-year guard Marcus Shankar (Campbell River, B.C.) with 13 points and three rebounds, fifth-year centre Connor Platz (Langley, B.C.) with 11 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and four blocked shots, and third-year guard Pearse Long (Lawrence, Kansas) with 10 points and seven rebounds all hit double figures for the Spartans.
 
Jayden Stephens with 14 points and seven rebounds, Cason Scott with 12 points, and Thomas Olsen with 11 points led the WolfPack.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now have an off day before hosting the UNBC Timberwolves on Saturday, January 24, at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Game time is set for 6 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie, TWU Head Coach
"Proud of the guys tonight. That was a team win. Connor was unreal—he does things with the ball you just don't see a big man do in this league. Nine assists, and it could've been ten… Logan's still hearing about that dunk. Tyler gave us huge minutes off the bench, brought energy and made winning plays, and Jack hit some massive shots when we needed them and competed on both ends. So nice to have David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) and Logan Stewart (Langley, B.C.) back in the lineup. We have missed those two so much."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans had a solid opening quarter, outscoring the WolfPack 27-17 to take a 10-point lead into the second quarter. But Thompson Rivers had the better of Trinity Western in the second quarter and used a 23-14 advantage to make it a one-point, 41-40, at the half.
 
TWU expanded its lead in the third quarter, taking a 59-53, six-point lead into the final frame. With six minutes remaining in the game, the Spartans had expanded their lead to 12 points, 67-55, with an 8-2 run. But TRU came storming back, in a two-point game, 68-66, a minute later with an 11-1 run. That was as close as the WolfPack would get as the Spartans held TRU to four points down the stretch to earn the 10-point win.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night shooting 44.8 percent (26-58) from the field, 51.9 percent (14-27) from the three-point line, and 58.3 percent (14-24) from the foul line, while the WolfPack shot 39.4 percent (26-66), 29 percent (9-31), and 81.8 percent (9-11) respectively.
• TWU had a 43-34 edge in rebounds and 20-15 in assists. While TRU had an 8-5 edge in steals and 11-16 in turnovers.
• The Spartans are currently 28-16 lifetime against the TRU WolfPack.
• Earlier this year, on November 14-15, TWU lost to TRU 70-51 and 81-66 in Kamloops, B.C.
• Last week, the Spartans were swept in two home games against the Victoria Vikes. Losing 90-67 and 72-63.
• Last week, the WolfPack lost 84-79 at home to the UFV Cascades on January 15 and 85-72 to the UBC Thunderbirds on January 17.

 
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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