Scheduled Game: BRITISH COLUMBIA*

74

GAME RESULTS 1 2 T UBC Thunderbirds 37 37 74 « FINAL TWU Spartans 33 30 63

63

Game Recap

Men's Basketball (Conference game)
Friday, February 06, 2004
TWU Spartans (63) vs. the UBC Thunderbirds (74)

Heated Contest

Langley, British Columbia - Spartan men's basketball hosted a hot-shooting UBC team tonight, and, despite holding them to 74 points (albeit on %50 shooting), could not match them offensively, dropping the game 74-63 to their Pacific Division rivals.

UBC opened the half with a three-pointer by guard Craig Rollins and held a slim lead for much of the first ten minutes before Trinity Western grabbed the lead at the halfway mark (of the first half) on a free throw by Dan Young. The Spartans then opened up as much as a seven-point lead before the T-Birds again fought back and went into the halftime break ahead 37-33.

Any meeting between these two teams is always a physical battle and this evening proved no different. After a tightly contested first half, things started to heat up in the second half as emotions hit their boiling point. With two such evenly matched teams-both offensively and defensively-going head-to-head, neither side was backing away from the challenge set before them: to get the win and that much closer to a playoff spot.

A little over six minutes into the half a slight controversy erupted after a physical confrontation between UBC's Casey Archibald and TWU's Brian Banman occurred after a Banman foul. Archibald appeared to forcibly shove Banman away from him, words were exchanged by players from both teams and a delay ensued before Archibald went to the line for two free throws. Their lead extended to six, UBC managed to hold on the rest of the way, extending their lead in the final minute as a result of the inevitable parade to the free throw line.

TWU battled hard, closing to within two points at one instance, but they could not get over the hump and take control of the game. Their offensive struggles, up against UBC's hot hand, proved too difficult to overcome.

Adam Friesen led the Spartans with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Casey Archibald finished with a game-high 20 points and 8 rebounds, as well as 3 steals, for the T-Birds.

Trinity Western hosts the rematch with UBC Saturday night at 8:00pm at David E. Enarson Gymnasium. Saturday night marks the final home game of the regular season for Spartan men's basketball, as well as Senior Appreciation Night.

Game Notes: Friesen tied a TWU record with 26 field goal attempts, the majority of which were drives to the hoop...but never shot a free throw in 36 minutes played...UBC shot 50% from the field and from behind the arc...TWU shot 45.6% and 37.5%, respectively...

-TW-

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