Posted: Jan 31, 2015
The No. 6 University of Saskatchewan Huskies shot 63 per cent en route to a 101-76 win over the visiting Trinity Western University Spartans Saturday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.
The Huskies finished the night 37-of-59 from the field and 12-of-25 from behind the three-point line. The Spartans shot just 41 percent in the loss.
With the win, Saskatchewan improves its record to 12-4 and extend the current winning streak to eight. Trinity Western drops to 1-15 on the season. The weekend sweep keeps the Huskies on pace among the front runners for the top seed in the Canada West Pioneer Division.
The Huskies hit their first four shots on Saturday to grab an early lead. Dadrian Collins and Andrew Henry both hit three point shots to help Saskatchewan to a 27-21 lead after ten minutes.
Trinity Western managed to battle back in the second quarter with a couple runs of their own. The Spartans used back-to-back three point plays in the opening minutes to cut into the Huskie lead. Saskatchewan continued its strong shooting, finishing the half 59.4% from the field, to take a 49-41 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Spartans came out of halftime with a strong push and cut the deficit to five. The Huskies put a stop to the Trinity Western comeback with strong defence and transition scores. Saskatchewan extended the lead to 15 points at 74-59 heading into the fourth quarter and grew it to as much as 25 points in the closing minutes of the contest.
Collins finished the night with a team-high 26 points for the Huskies on 9-of-13 shooting. Collins hit 6-of-10 attempts from three-point range. Ben Baker poured in another 22 points and five assists, while Matt Forbes scored 16 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Evan Osterag and Mike Scott both scored in the double digits off the bench with 14 and 11 respectively.
Justin Bakuteka led the way for the Spartans as he racked up a game-high 27 points. Taylor Heinrichs scored another 13 points while Tyus Allen recorded a game-high eight assists. All five Trinity Western starters grabbed at least four rebounds.
Saskatchewan will look to keep the winning streak going when they visit Lethbridge next weekend to take on the Pronghorns, while the Spartans will host the Winnipeg Wesmen for a weekend series.