VANCOUVER – Forward Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.) and guard Phil Jalalpoor (Shifferstadt, Germany) combined for 43 points to lead the UBC Thunderbirds to a 93-71 non-conference victory over the Antelope Valley (Calif.) Pioneers Tuesday at the 40th Annual Tom Byron Classic men's basketball tournament in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Morgan recorded 23 points and seven rebounds – both team highs – and Jalalpoor had 20 points, the most he has scored in a single game for UBC, which improved to 12-3 overall this season.
After four lead changes early in the opening half, an inside layup by forward Luka Zaharijevic (Vancouver) four and a half minutes into game gave Thunderbirds the lead for good at 13-12.
The Pioneers trailed by just a point at 22-21 when Kadeem Minor made a layup at 10:04 of the first half. The Thunderbirds knocked down the next eight points, thanks in part to long-distance buckets from Morgan and Jalalpoor. UBC took its first double-digit lead (39-29) with 3:35 left before halftime.
Minor made another three with just over a minute remaining in the first to make it a one-basket game at 41-38, but Morgan replied emphatically with a slam dunk and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to make the score 46-38 at the mid-game break.
The Thunderbirds took control of the game for good early in the second half with a 14-2 run. A three from Antelope Valley's Franky Teran cut UBC's lead to 48-43. Then T-Bird forward David Wagner (Kamloops, B.C.) answered with a layup. Jalalpoor followed up with a three-pointer, a steal and a layup. Forward Patrick Simon (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) added two layups, before Jalalpoor capped off the run with another shot from downtown, which gave UBC a 62-45 advantage.
The Thunderbirds pushed their lead to 26 points on two occasions in the latter stages of the second half, thanks to a Zaharijevic layup at 7:31, which made it 83-57, and an A. J. Holloway (Tacoma, Wash.) bucket a half-minute later (85-59).
UBC shot 51.5 per cent (34-66) from the field, including 52.4 per cent (11-21) from behind the arc. Guard Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary) made all three of his attempts from distance, which accounted for his nine points on Tuesday. He also had a team-best four assists, as did forward Will Ondrik (Vernon, B.C.).
The Thunderbirds won the battle of the boards by a 44-27 count and also outscored the Pioneers 42-26 in the paint.
UBC will face the host Westmont Warriors tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. to close out the Tom Byron Classic.
IMAGE CREDIT: Nate Kurtzman/Westmont College