Scheduled Game: VICTORIA*

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 T Victoria Vikes 33 38 71 TWU Spartans 40 40 80 « FINAL

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Game Recap

Men's Basketball (Conference game)
Saturday, January 24, 2004
TWU Spartans (80) vs. the University of Victoria (71)

Logjam

Langley, British Columbia - This weekend featured all four Pacific Division teams going head-to-head and it was anyone's guess what the outcome would be and what it would mean for the rest of the season. SFU and UBC ended up splitting their matchup, while TWU swept UVIC with tonight's 80-71 win to leapfrog into second place. As a result, the Pacific Division is still anyone's for the claiming with three weekends remaining in the regular season, although SFU holds the advantage with a division-best 10-4 record. TWU follows at 9-5, while UBC and UVIC are now tied at 8-6.

If opening the second half of the season with a 4-0 record wasn't enough to catch opponents' attention, then surely extending that undefeated streak to six will turn some heads. The Spartans proved they are back, and perhaps even better than last year's team, with a convincing weekend sweep of the visiting University of Victoria Vikes.

Tonight's contest began in similar fashion to last night's, although instead of just TWU running around at a frenetic pace, tonight both teams were running and gunning. Trinity Western held the lead once again, but the Vikes kept it close, even taking the lead very briefly, 15-13. That would be their only lead of the game, however, and the Spartans quickly recaptured the advantage to go into the break with a 40-33 lead.

Defense was definitely not as much of a factor tonight, but it was TWU's three-point shooting that ultimately proved the difference, especially in the second half when they scorched the nets at 50% from beyond the arc. Brian Banman and Adam Friesen each exploded for 13 points after the break, shooting a combined 9-16 from the field, while UVIC's Chris Trumpy and Chris Marsh each had 10 points (9-14) to lead their comeback attempt. Constantly trying to come from behind can take its toll, however, and the Vikes ran out of steam, once again resorting to fouling in the last minute to try and squeeze a few extra seconds out of the clock. The strategy proved unsuccessful against TWU's 80% free throw shooting, and the hometown Spartans claimed their sixth straight league win, 80-71.

Friesen finished with a game-high 27 points and 7 boards, as well as 4 assists and 2 steals. Nathan Ashmead led the Vikes with 17 points and 4 rebounds.

TWU men's basketball is on the road next weekend at the University of Alberta on Friday, January 30th and the University of Saskatchewan on Sunday, February 1st. Their next home games are against UBC on February 6th and 7th.

Game Notes: Banman was the only other Spartan in double figures in scoring, with 19 points...UVIC's Marsh and Trumpy each had 16 points...TWU once again out-rebounded the Vikes, 31-25...the Spartans shot 51.8% from the field, compared to the Vikes' 43.3%...

-TW-

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