Over the weekend, the UBC men’s basketball team hosted the UBCO Heat in a two-game series at War Memorial Gym. The T-Birds were victorious on both nights, although Friday’s 85–80 win was gritter than Saturday’s 105–79 senior night finish.
On Friday night, the Thunderbirds didn’t play like a nationally ranked team — the game was tight from the beginning. Although UBC was up 26–17 by the end of the first quarter, they handed the Heat lots of space to shoot or create plays.
In the second quarter, the ‘Birds improved slightly, capitalizing on defensive rebounds. They got some momentum around halfway through, leading up to a big play from Jerry Hayes and Nikola Guzina for an Adam Olsen dunk, getting the crowd on their feet for a 11-point lead. However, UBCO didn’t roll over and, with a 84.8 per cent free throw rate and a fastbreak layup by Leon Schenker, went into the break leading 41–40.
“As a coach, [I’m] a little disappointed in the way we played,” said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson after the game. “[We’re] hoping to clean some things up and play a little bit better as we move forward at this time of the year.”
The UBC Marching Band entertained fans with ABBA songs during halftime, and the energy continued into the third quarter, with Tobi Akinkunmi getting a three-pointer to start off. However, T-Bird fouls continued and the Heat took the lead, 60–59, late in the quarter. The ‘Birds came back with a minute left — a clean three from Victor Radocaj and a dunk by Fareed Shittu gave them a slight 64–61 advantage going into the fourth.
The last ten minutes had lots of back and forth, with teams trading possession and fouls. Offensively, the Thunderbirds had good performances from Akinkunmi and Micah Jessie, but free throws kept the game tight. Eventually, a jumper by Radocaj in the paint cemented the 85–80 win.
Saturday was a different story, with the team rallying around the four graduating players: Shittu, Jessie, Radocaj and Brendan Sullivan. They, respectively, were also the team’s points leaders for the game.
“I thought that they stepped up in particular, rose to the occasion and played to have a lot of fun,” said Hanson.
Shittu set the game’s tone with two dunks, before a Sullivan three-pointer and consistent free throws from Jessie. After one quarter, the ‘Birds led 31–20.
UBC kept their foot on the offensive pedal, adding 30 more points before halftime. UBCO took advantage whenever cracks started to show in the T-Birds’ defence, but the home team cleaned things up so the Heat never had a larger run than three points.
After the break, the Heat started to get frustrated and gave fouls. UBC capitalized on that, going 4–6, while also improving on second chance points to further their lead to 81–56. While UBCO’s Lamine Conde led all scorers in points (31), he couldn’t compete with the depth of the Thunderbirds’ roster. To end the game, Shittu finished the way he started — with a dunk — for the 105–79 victory.
“I think the biggest difference was just that we played a little bit more with motion tonight,” said Hanson.
The T-Birds (13–5) travel to Prince George to play the University of Northern BC Timberwolves (1–17) on Friday for their last games of the regular season.
Share this article
First online
Submit a complaint Report a correction
