Scheduled Game: @Thompson Rivers*

95

GAME RESULTS 1 2 T Trinity Western 39 56 95 « FINAL Thompson Rivers 48 44 92

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Game Recap

Men’s Basketball (Canada West)
Saturday, January 13, 2007
TWU (95) TRU (92)

SPARTANS WIN BY THREE IN BATTLE WITH WOLFPACK
TWU style continues to add to the win column

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – The Trinity Western University men’s basketball team (9-8) is playing hard-nosed and staying with their strengths.  Michael Erickson (3rd year, Aldergrove, B.C.) and Trevor Nerdahl (3rd, Caronport, S.K.) combined to hit 7-12 three-pointers and the Spartans prevailed 95-92 over Thompson Rivers WolfPack (0-17) Saturday to move to one game above .500.

“I feel like that we have battled through some of our demons and that we were able to establish our will on the game, especially in the second half,” said TWU Head Coach Stan Peters. “Give full credit to TRU. They came out like gang busters to start the game and we didn’t start to get things going until late in the half. But in the second half we played with a sense of urgency, discipline and heart.”

The Spartans thrive on pushing the tempo, scoring when their opponents fall two steps away or move two split-seconds too slow.  The result is a very efficient kind of game where victory is earned in the little strengths that the Spartans continue to employ: consistent free-throw shooting, points in transition and from behind the arc, and offensive rebounding.

TWU out-rebounded TRU on the offensive glass 15-10.  They were also 20-28 from the line compared to a WolfPack 13-24.  However it is calculated, the differences are marginal, the Spartans come out three points ahead and it seems to be a repeated pattern in TWU wins.

TRU’s Charlie Spurr (Prince Rupert, B.C.) and Kamar Burke (Mississauga, O.N.) put forth strong statistical efforts, but fell just short in the final minute.  Spurr finished the game with 28 points, 6-10 threes, and 6 steals while Burke had 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 14 assists.

The first half saw the WolfPack get 11 points ahead of the Spartans in the first seven minutes, largely thanks to Braeden Jones ((Steveston) who posted 11 points in the first six-and-a-half minutes. The WolfPack continued to pull ahead of the Spartans, leading for the rest of the half and at times extending the ‘Pack lead to as much as 16 points before the half ended with a 48-39 score for the WolfPack, which outscored and out-rebounded the Spartans by almost 20 per cent.

Erickson played a key role in keeping the Spartans in the game, making four threes throughout, one that prevented TRU from running away with a bigger lead, and three that brought the Spartans to within five points of the leading WolfPack.

Thompson Rivers led for the first ten minutes of the second half, when the Spartans’ Joe Vroom (2nd, Abbotsford, B.C.) sunk one to tie the game at 68-68 and then teammate Trevor Nerdahl sunk two triples to boost the score to 74-68 for the Spartans. The WolfPack battled hard but couldn’t quite make up the deficit throughout the remainder of the half, coming within one point three times in the last minute of the game.

Spartans high scorers were Luke Robinson (4th, Ahousat, B.C.) with 15 points, Michael Erickson with 14 points and Joe Vroom and Trevor Nardahl with 10 each.  Vroom also gathered a team-high 8 rebounds.

Connor Agnew (Prince Rupert, B.C.) added 18 points for the home squad, and Braeden Jones had 17 points and five rebounds.

The Spartans return home next weekend (January 19th and 20th) to face Sasketchewan Friday at 8:00 pm and Alberta Saturday at 8:00 pm.

Game Notes: FT%: TWU (71.4) TRU (52.4)...FG%: TWU (47.1) TRU (50.0)...REB: TWU (43) TRU (35)...3PT% TWU (40.9) TRU (40.7)...TO’s TWU (23) TRU (24)...Steals TWU (17) TRU (17)...FG’S TWU (33-70) TRU (32-68)...

-TW-

-contributions from TRU Sports Information

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