Scheduled Game: @British Columbia*

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 4 5 T Trinity Western 14 25 11 28 11 89 British Columbia 24 17 21 16 18 96 « FINAL

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Game Recap

Men's Basketball (Canada West)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
TWU Spartans (89) at the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (96) - Overtime

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS AND T-BIRDS BATTLE INTO OVERTIME

VANCOUVER -The UBC Thunderbirds (3-0) won their third straight to begin the season on Thursday, as they managed to edge out the Trinity Western Spartans (0-2) 96-89 in an overtime thriller at War Memorial Gym.

After Josh Whyte got an acrobatic reverse layup to fall, putting his side up 82-80, Louis Hurd nailed a three-pointer to put the Spartans on top by one in the extra frame. Chris Dyck would respond on the next possession with a three of his own however, restoring the T-Bird lead to two. After Jamie Vaughan went one-for-two at the line for the Spartans, Kyle Watson was able to draw contact and hit both his free-throws to give the ‘Birds a three point lead with less than two minutes to play. After a defensive stop, Whyte made it a two possession game with a single point from the charity strike, and he would put the game on ice just seconds later, when he stole the ball in his own defensive end and took it himself for the layup to give the ‘Birds a six point lead.

Whyte was a big reason the T-Birds managed to hang on to their dwindling fourth-quarter lead long enough to force overtime, as all 12 of his points came in the fourth quarter or the extra frame. He scored the final four points for the T-Birds in the fourth quarter, but Vaughan and Jacob Doerksen were just as hot as Whyte in the fourth, as they combined for 22 of the Spartans' final 24 points in regulation. With his side down four and just a minute remaining in the fourth, Doerksen put back a missed Spartan shot with one hand to make it a two point game. Then with 20 seconds remaining, he managed to hit a shot as he was falling down just inside the key to send the game to overtime.

"As I said to Scott Allen (Spartans head coach), I think there will be a few more good ones like this coming," said Hanson. "They are a very solid basketball team. They have a lot of talent and they played hard. That's great because it's going to make both teams better and make our division tougher."

Nothing came easy for either side during Thursday's back-and-forth contest. The T-Birds held a sizeable lead after the first quarter, only to see it cut down to two heading into halftime. A strong third quarter by the ‘Birds saw them rebuild their lead and take a 62-50 advantage into the fourth, but the tenacious Spartans wouldn't go away, as they managed to overcome the large deficit thanks to a much improved effort on the boards and a second-half field goal percentage of 45.7.

Lance Verhoeff led all scorers with 21 points for the Spartans, while Vaughan and Doerksen each had 19. Doerksen also led all rebounders with 12 boards while playing a staggering 42 of 45 minutes in the game before fouling out in overtime Blaine LaBranche led the T-Birds with 19 points, followed closely by Chris Dyck with 18 and Whyte with 12. Whyte also chipped in a game-high six assists.

The two sides will square off again this Saturday at War Memorial Gym, and if Thursday's game is any indication, there should be plenty of fireworks to look forward to. Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m.

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- source UBC Sports Information

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