Scheduled Game: BRITISH COLUMBIA*

81

GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 4 T British Columbia 20 18 14 29 81 « FINAL Trinity Western 9 4 30 15 58

58

Game Recap

Men's Basketball (Canada West)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
TWU Spartans (58) vs. University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (81)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS VALIANT COMEBACK FALLS JUST SHORT

LANGLEY, British Columbia - Daniel Demian (Coquitlam, B.C.) lay face down on the court in the first half, nose bleeding after taking an elbow to the face. This picture said it all as his Trinity Western University Spartans limped through one of the worst halves in school history, mustering just 13 points to trail the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds by 25 points. But like Demian, the Spartans got up and fought back, pulling to within seven points early in the fourth quarter, before the Thunderbirds pulled away to win 81-58 at TWU's David E. Enarson Gymnasium.

"The first half is something I haven't been involved in a long, long time, maybe back to my days as a grade eight girls coach," said TWU head coach Pat Lee. "Our defence was outstanding in the first half, but we just really struggled to make shots. In the whole half we only had two assists, which means we were doing too much ‘one pass and shoot' and we just didn't execute at all."

UBC led 20-9 after one quarter as the Spartans struggled to find their rhythm, and it just got worse in the second, as TWU scored just one field goal, a Jon Loewen jumper with 1:50 left in the half. The Spartans shot 15 percent, making just five of 32 shots, and converting only two of five free throws. UBC, on the other hand, had different players score, including forward Bryson Kool (Pitt Meadows, B.C.), who led all scorers at the half with nine points and four rebounds.

The Spartans found their offense quickly in the third quarter, as jumpers and free throws started falling from everywhere. TWU scored 14 points, more than their entire first half output, in the first five minutes of the third quarter, and would go on to outscore UBC 30-14 in the frame to pull within nine at 52-43. Demian, bloody nose and all, helped the Spartan surge with two jumpers and a free throw. The Spartans shot 66 percent from the field and made six of eight three-point attempts in the quarter, half of them from rookie Matt Myers (Tumwater, Wash.).

In the fourth TWU cut the UBC lead to just seven points on a Jason Keegstra (Vernon, B.C.) fast break tomahawk dunk, making it 53-46 with 8:34 remaining. But that's where the Spartans rally would end, as Kyle Watson (Richmond, B.C.) went right back down court and calmly buried a three pointer to push the lead back to 10 points. Three Spartan post players would foul out soon after and from there it was all UBC, as they would outscore TWU 25-12 to win going away.

The Spartans were led in scoring by three bench players as the high-flying Keegstra finished with 12 points, Lance Verhoeff (Calgary) notched 11 points and five boards, and Myers totaled nine points and four assists. For the T-Birds Watson was unconscious in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his 16 in that quarter as he missed just one shot, and was four of five from three. Kool finished with 15 points, 11 boards, three assists and two blocks, and Blain LaBranche (Edmonton) poured in 10 points off the bench.

The Spartans finish the season with three straight games against the Simon Fraser University Clan. The first meeting will be TWU's last regular season home game on Friday, February 1, 2008 at 6 p.m. The Thunderbirds last homestand of the regular season is also next weekend, and it starts with a rare noon tip against the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Friday February 1, 2008.

-TW-

Play-by-Play

Photo Gallery