EDMONTON - In a career-best game, Abbotsford, B.C. native Joel Friesen scored 33 points against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, propelling the University of Alberta Golden Bears to a 90-65 victory, Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

The CIS leader in three-balls coming into tonight's action, Friesen fired up the crowd with seven more on the evening while sophomore forward Mamadou Gueye added 18 points and eight rebounds. Second-year guard Ethan Dixon was also dynamite from beyond the arc, nailing each of this three long-distance buckets as part of an 11-point performance.

Tommy Nixon, UBC's leading scorer from last season, netted 18 points for the visitors while seniors Tonner Jackson and Andrew McGuinness, as well as sophomore Conor Morgan, cracked the double-digit barrier in the third-straight loss for UBC.

Unsurprisingly, Friesen was the first to put points up on the board, getting fouled only six seconds into the game in his first of only two trips to the charity stripe.

All three of his first-quarter treys were part of Alberta's momentous 18-3 offensive run, fueled just as much by terrific plays on defence, including a thundering Gueye stuff on a Jackson layup at the 4:40 mark.

A 9-2 run to start the second quarter pushed the Bears' lead to over 20, yet teeming with confidence, Alberta was just getting started.

Youssef Ouahrig, the team leader in assists, threw up an alley-oop that Friesen smoothly converted on a jumper with 2:04 left to go in the frame, following it up with another three-ball before dishing the rock off to Gueye for a crowd-pleasing slam dunk with 1:13 left. The 2013-14 Canada West Rookie of the Year almost made it two to end the quarter but he didn't quite get the bounce with 4.9 ticks, the Bears still heading into the dressing room with an impressive 51-22 lead.

The T-birds started the second half with a 7-0 run but couldn't close the gap, every bucket they grabbed met with a three-point play from Alberta, feeding off the hometown crowd to the tune of a 60% clip in the field while UBC, though improving on the first-half performance of 29%, could only muster up 53% in the third frame.

Meanwhile, every Golden Bear was taking a chance in the spotlight, Dixon taking advantage of a clear-cut breakaway to slam in his first two points of the game with 4:00 left to go in the quarter.

The momentum Alberta gained off that play pushed the home team to a 30-point lead over the winless Thunderbirds, making a comeback seem insurmountable in the final 10 minutes.

Still, UBC gave it a good effort with 22 points in the fourth quarter but 14 points off the bench by the home team kept the comeback at bay, Dixon getting Alberta's 14th and final trey with 50 seconds left on the clock to finalize the victory.

The 4-1 Bears and 0-3 T-birds will meet up again in game two of the weekend series on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT.