Posted: Nov 27, 2015
The University of Calgary Dinos made a late push, but it wasn't enough to stop the UBC Thunderbirds winning streak, as the B.C. powerhouse won its sixth straight game by a score of 83-76.
UBC improved to 6-1 with the win, while the Dinos dropped to 4-3.
Calgary native Jordan Jensen-Whyte finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, including critical free throws in the fourth quarter, as Calgary tried to come back in the game.
"It was a good run by Calgary and I was just happy to get the W,"Jensen-Whyte said. "Both teams played really hard and I'm happy to come out to my hometown and have a good game like that for myself."
The Thunderbirds used their height on the glass, dominating the rebounding battle by a margin of 50-33, while also holding Calgary to just 4-20 from three-point territory.
"We came out and the guys did a great job on the boards and we're hoping to keep that up for tomorrow," Jensen-Whyte said.
It was still just a four-point UBC lead at 55-51 going into the fourth, but a David Wagner layup would make it at 10-point lead with seven minutes remaining. The visitors stayed in control and pushed the lead to 13 with just a 2:34 left in the game, but the Dinos would not go away.
Thomas Cooper, who finished with a game-high 31 points, hit consecutive buckets to make it 74-65, but Jensen-Whyte hit two more free throws shortly after.
David Kapinga and Cooper would have consecutive three-point plays and with 1:37 left, it was 76-71, however Jensen-Whyte would respond again with a layup at 1:18. A Jasdeep Gill three with 23 seconds left once again made it a five-point game at 81-76, but Calgary wouldn't score again as UBC won by seven. Along with Cooper's 31, David Kapinga came off the bench with a strong game for Calgary, scoring 11 points and adding six steals, while Gill scored 13.
Jensen-Whyte was one of four T-Birds in double-figures with 16, followed by David Wagner with 18, Phil Jalalpoor had 15 and Will Ondrik finished with 10.
The road win for UBC comes one week after sweeping the Saskatchewan Huskies in Saskatoon and the squad now sits atop the Pioneer Division.
"It's coming together and we're starting to get on a roll," Jensen-Whyte said. "There's obviously some things we need to fine-tune, but these wins are good for the confidence of the young guys, veterans are stepping up and it's really great for the whole team."
The Dinos find themselves in familiar territory, as the team was in the same position last week in Victoria and the weekend before in Manitoba - losing the first game of their series.
They would bounce back it the second game of those series' for victories and will get their chance to do it again 7 p.m. MT on Saturday night, in a rematch on canadawest.tv from the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.