Aaron Martin (UBC Thunderbirds)
VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team (15-4) put on a show on Friday night, defeating the Winnipeg Wesmen (10-9) by a final of 99-52 at War Memorial Gymnasium.
The depth of the 'Birds came to the forefront on Friday, as every player on the 12-man roster put at least two points up on the board and five guys got into double digits. Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.) led the club in scoring and rebounding, putting up a 15-12 double-double, while Jordan Jensen-Whyte (Calgary) chipped in with 13 points, three boards, and three assists. Next up, rookie big man Roger Milne (Winnipeg) put up 11 points against his hometown club, coming in off the bench.
"I'm really proud of these guys," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "Any time you can get everyone into the game and have them contribute, everyone feels good about themselves. The problem is, you've got to play them again the next night. It was a real good test – we've said that it's playoff basketball from here on out. We want to secure second place in the division, that's really our focus. Overall, I thought we did some good things – very happy with everybody, I'll tell you, it's nice to sit there and be on the positive side of one of these nights."
The 'Birds foreshadowed the dominance that was to come early in the opening quarter. Tied up at 4-4, the T-Birds orchestrated a 12-2 run, including four points each from Morgan and Jensen-Whyte, to go up 14-6.
The Wesmen did well to stop the bleeding, clawing their way back to a 16-14 deficit. Pryce made a three-point basket and, after a turnover, came down the floor to earn two foul shots, which he converted. After a Simon layup for UBC, Kambola added a triple of his own for the Winnipeg.
A. J. Holloway (Tacoma, Wash.) was key in getting the final two points of that run, as the guard showed off his handles at the end of the frame, darting around a pair of defenders and finding fifth-year forward David Wagner (Kamloops, B.C.) wide open in the paint. With that, the 'Birds entered the break up 26-14.
The 'Birds kept coming in waves to open the second frame, as Morgan and Patrick Simon (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) each drilled threes and the 'Birds ripped off a 12-2 run over the first four minutes of the quarter, pulling ahead 38-16.
The game fell back into more of a back-and-forth rhythm in the latter part of the frame, but Jensen-Whyte made sure that UBC kept pushing the pace, nailing a three-pointer and delivering a wicked two-handed flush on back-to-back plays.
Luka Zaharijevic (Vancouver) bullied his way around the court in the late stages of the quarter, picking up three tough buckets in the paint. By the time the dust settled in the first half, the 'Birds had doubled up on the Wesmen 56-28.
Up 60-32, Will Ondrik (Vernon, B.C.) delivered pair of highlight-reel moments, first coming off the baseline for a two-handed flush.
Then, Ondrik was the distributor, as he broke up the floor with Morgan on the fast break, and lobbed it up to his 6-foot-9 running mate. Morgan brought it down on the alley-oop with some authority to put the 'Birds up by 32.
With the game already in hand, the 'Birds substitutes saw more floor time in the later portion of the third quarter. They continued the onslaught, and had the 'Birds up 78-39 by the buzzer that signalled the end of the frame.
The final quarter passed in a blur, with the 'Birds substitutes continuing to show well. Milne was the last of the T-Birds to hit the score sheet, but caught fire in the final minutes of the game, pouring in all 11 of his points over the final 4:48
If the T-Birds bench's reaction to Milne's offensive explosion is any indication, this is a pretty tight-knit group.
"It's exciting," admitted Hanson. "As a coach, it's great to see guys rooting for each other, cheering for each other and sharing in each other's success. Our team cheer is 'Family!' this year, and it's really a group of guys that care about each other. It was extra special tonight with Roger being from Winnipeg, and as an indicator of team cohesiveness, it's really good."
The 'Birds will have to show that cohesiveness one more time this regular season, as they will host the Wesmen in the second half of their back-to-back tomorrow, February 20. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. (PT), once again at War Memorial Gym.
UBC's stretch run to March is on, as the 'Birds prepare to host the CIS Men's Basketball Final 8, which will see the absolute best basketball players in Canada make their way to the UBC campus. Get your tournament packages and single tickets now, as the national championship is set to take place from March 17-20 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. UBC will be playing in a quarter-final game at 8 p.m. Get your tickets now.
IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds