Scheduled Game: OKLAHOMA

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 4 T Oklahoma Sooners 32 28 26 21 107 « FINAL Trinity Western 13 13 12 20 58

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Game Recap

Men’s Basketball (NCAA Pre-season)
Sunday, September 02, 2007
TWU Spartans (58) vs. the University of Oklahoma Sooners (107)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOONERS SIZE AND ATHLETICISM LEADS TO WIN

LANGLEY, British Columbia - The University of Oklahoma controlled all aspects of their game against the Trinity Western University Spartans Sunday night at TWU's David E. Enarson Gym. The Sooners size and quickness proved too much for the injured and young Spartans as TWU fell 107-58.

"That was a lot of fun," said TWU head coach Stan Peters after the game. "We are not going to see many teams that are that good and that athletic at every position on the floor. So it was great for our young players too go up against that type of team and be able to make adjustments and have success. It will only help us in the future."

The Spartans are a very different team then last year. They are without their two leading scorers from last year: Captain Brian Banman (Kelowna, B.C.) and Jon Schmidt (Abbotsford, B.C.), who are both sitting out this season due to injury. In addition they were without the services of big men Jason Keegstra (3rd year, Vernon, B.C.) and Michael Brouwer (4th year, Nanaimo, B.C.), who were both unavailable because of minor injuries.

"Without two of our leading scorers and on the floor leaders from last year we have had to spend a lot of time establishing who we are and who was going to carry the baton. So we worked a lot this week on philosophy of who we are and what we are trying to become," commented Stan Peters. "So our thing is how long can we play together, how hard can we work and how smart can learn to play."

The Spartans played three scrimmages this weekend against the Airforce Academy, Boise State and Oklahoma and were not primarily focused on the win loss column in any of the contests.

Oklahoma led 32-13 after the first quarter and 60-26 at the half.

Michael Erickson (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 12 points and Matt Myer (Tumwater, Wash.) with 11 points led the Spartans, while Blake Griffin (Oklahoma City, Okla.) led the Sooners with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

"Overall, even though the scores don't show it, I felt that the guys really learned how to buy in [to our philosophy] and understand the first step on what it means to play hard," said Peters. "I am quite encouraged on how the guys responded in the locker room at half time and that they were able to execute new things against some pretty good teams. If I look at the big picture of the season and where we are right now I like what we have and I'm pretty happy with it."

Next up for the Spartans is hosting UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, September 8th. Game time at TWU is set for 7 p.m. This game is tentatively scheduled for broadcast on TWU's Spartan Web Radio at www.spartanwebradio.ca.

TWU opens up Canada West league play on Thursday, October 25 at the University of British Columbia.

-TW-

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