Scott Stewart, TWU Spartans

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds started strong, and never trailed as they defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 112-65 in Canada West men's basketball action Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.  

The victory improves the No. 4 UBC to a 12-1 season, with their lone loss, 70-60 coming against Saskatchewan on October 27 at UBC. While tonight's loss sees the Spartans season record drop to a 0-12 record. 

Thunderbird Grant Shephard led the way in the first ten minutes with 10 points, leading the 27-point first quarter charge. Jadon Cohee led the Thunderbirds overall with 22 points while four other UBC players finished the game with 10 or more points. Third year centre Borja Soriano (Valencia, Spain) led the Spartans with 16 individual points. While third year guard Josiah Meppelink (Langley, B.C.) and fifth year guard Josiah Allison (Abbotsford, B.C.) each added 12 points to the TWU cause. 

The second quarter mirrored the first, with the Thunderbirds going into the second half steering the game with a considerate 24-point lead at 55-31.  

Spartans first year centre Andrew Goertzen (Langley, B.C.) and first year forward Isaiah Reimer (Abbotsford, B.C.) contributed a combined 13 points in the third quarter, despite the UBC leading after the third 85-51.   

UBC continued their strong play in the final quarter with Grant Audu netting eight points in the fourth frame as the Thunderbirds finished out the night with a convincing 112-65 victory.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Aaron Muhic
"UBC is a really good team, and we all know that. And tonight was a great opportunity for us to play one of the best teams in the country. I thought our starters struggled, but Borja had a great game. And Andrew Goertzen had a strong night under difficult circumstances."  

"They shot the ball really well, but I was pleased with how our bench played tonight. But we need to take care of the ball better and find a way to get to the free throw line more."

NOTABLE

• The T-birds finished with a 45-35 edge in rebounding and a 58-52 edge in points in the paint.
• From the line, UBC shot 80.6 per cent (25-31), while Trinity Western finished with 55.6 per cent (5-9). 
• TWU shot 45 per cent from the field (27-60), while UBC shot 51.2 per cent (41-80).
• The Spartans bench finished with 33 points to the T-Birds 37 points from their subs.

UP NEXT
The Spartans and Thunderbirds rematch on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. back at the Langley Events Centre. The game can be seen live on Canadawest.tv.

-TW-