Comeback. Thriller. Nailbiter. All words that could describe UBC’s last minute heroics in the Canada West semifinal.
Down six with a minute and a half remaining, it seemed like the T-Birds' season may have been coming to a premature end. The University of Winnipeg Wesmen, having lost to UBC in the playoffs last year, were out for revenge. The Wesmen, playing at home, led by as many as 16 points. In the final quarter, they were up by eight. UBC’s only lead had come in the first three minutes of the first quarter. Throughout the entire game, the outcome seemed clear. Winnipeg was going to the Canada West final, with a chance for their first conference title in history. The Thunderbirds, however, had different plans.
In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, an unlikely backcourt veteran-rookie duo stepped up. When it mattered most, fifth-year guard Holt Tomie hit his first three-pointer of the evening to pull the ‘Birds within a shot. Then, came first-year Raj Dhadda. The freshman, who would go on to hit a career-high in points, stepped up once again when it mattered most, hitting his fourth three of the game — tying the contest at 80. With 46 seconds left, the game hung in the balance.
Considering the talent on these two teams, it should be no surprise the game got to this point. This week’s matchup featured two Canada West first team all-stars: UBC’s fourth-year forward Nikola Guzina and Winnipeg's third-year guard, Kato Jaro. Both players rank in the top 15 in the conference in points-per-game, and have both been essential to their team’s success. And this year, both teams have been very successful.
Winnipeg had been on a roll as of late, cruising through their first playoff match against Calgary, winning by 13, and having lost only twice since early November. The T-Birds also boasted a strong season, going 15–5 on the year, but they didn’t have the same momentum Winnipeg did. In their most recent action, UBC played a gritty first playoff game against the Manitoba Bisons and dropped the final game of the regular season to their longtime rivals, the University of Victoria Vikes — their third loss in the last six regular season games.
To open their semifinal matchup, the T-Birds looked to put recent history behind them — and it started with their all-star. Guzina — who possesses remarkably light feet for someone of his size — swiftly spun into a layup to score the first two points of the game. He continued to live up to his all-star status in the first quarter, scoring seven points and bringing in four rebounds. Guzina ended up finishing the game with 13 rebounds, a new career-high. The quarter closed 23–21 in favour of the Wesmen, and it seemed like the game would be a back and forth battle.
But Winnipeg pulled away in the second quarter. The Wesmen’s defense was suffocating, and UBC was held to just 33 per cent field goal shooting in the second frame. Despite UBC's own defensive efforts — including an epic chase down block by Dhadda, a la LeBron James, midway through the quarter — Winnipeg’s offence was humming. They dictated the pace all quarter and with three minutes remaining, Jaro stepped into a deep three-pointer, putting the ‘Birds down by 16. Aside from a careless shooting foul in the final second of the quarter — one that gave Tomie two free throws — the Wesmen looked firmly in control of the game heading into halftime, up by nine.
Neither team came out in the third playing particularly well on offence, but the defence had been turned up to eleven. Both teams forced each other to take difficult shots and commit numerous early turnovers. The Thunderbirds broke the scoring drought first off of a layup from Gus Goerzen, almost two minutes into the frame.
From there, UBC was able to make some inroads on offence. Goerzen’s layup opened up a 11–3 T-Birds run, getting UBC back into the game with a strong start to the half. The T-Birds shot 50 per cent from the field in the period and even cut the lead to only one at the end of their half-opening scoring streak. But they couldn’t finish the job. Each time UBC crept within a possession, Winnipeg seemed to answer. Nylan Roberts — one of UBC’s premier scorers — was missing on good looks, and remained scoreless coming out of the third. This, coupled with other missed, open layups and poor free throw shooting in the quarter — 25 per cent — left the ‘Birds still down six headed into the fourth.
But before the quarter was over, the tension between the two teams boiled over, with an on-court scuffle between two ‘Birds and two Wesmen.
With 20 seconds remaining, UBC’s Tobi Akinkunmi forced a turnover and dove after the loose ball in an attempt to initiate a fast break for his teammates. Jaro did his best to prevent this and toppled over Akinkunmi. By now, tensions were high, and UBC was clearly frustrated that they still had not levelled the contest after three periods. Akinkunmi was visibly unimpressed with Jaro’s excessive contact, and when Winnipeg’s Noah Kankam came to give Akinkunmi a piece of his mind, Tomie responded with a polite shove. This caused a significant delay in the game and the officials eventually issued offsetting, unsporting fouls.
Neither player was ejected, and it didn’t escalate further. But the tone had been set for the final ten minutes.
Dhadda connected on an early three-point attempt in the fourth, but besides that, UBC struggled to establish much offensive momentum early on. Continuing the trend from the third, it felt like every time the ‘Birds scored, the Wesmen responded with a bucket of their own. But UBC kept pushing. Off the back of some impressive shot-making by Goerzen and Tomie, with four and a half minutes remaining, the T-Birds were within two points and had another chance to tie or take the lead. Tomie smoked a layup and the Wesmen scored on back-to-back possessions to put UBC back down six.
With just over two minutes remaining, things were looking grim for UBC. Despite countless opportunities to level the contest, it felt like Winnipeg was not going to give in. Tomie and Dhadda had other plans.
Fading to his right, hand in his face, Tomie drilled his first three-pointer of the night. On the next trip down the floor, Dhadda coolly and confidently stepped into another behind the arc. He hit. UBC had finally tied the game up for the first time since the second quarter, at 80–80 with just 45 seconds remaining.
Finally, just when things appeared they could not get more dramatic — chaos broke out. After getting a stop, UBC had the ball in the final 30 seconds with a chance to win it. They threw it away. With a Tomie miss off a difficult shot, the Wesmen grabbed the rebound with five seconds left, pushing to get the deciding points. After a couple passes that nearly went out-of-bounds, the ball nearly made it to the other end of the court for what would have been a game-winning Winnipeg layup. But on the breakout pass, Dhadda got his hand on the ball, tipping it to his teammate, first-year guard Edouard Gauthier. With just one second remaining, Gauthier threw up a prayer from Steph Curry range. The shot missed by no more than an inch. Overtime.
While it would have been easy to crumble under the disappointment of just missing a nearly historic shot, the ‘Birds kept their heads high.
Dhadda picked up where he left off, hitting the first shot of OT — again a three-pointer — bringing him to 17 points. Roberts, meanwhile, had finally broken his scoring drought late in the fourth. He scored seven points in the five minute period, and at one point, hit back-to-back buckets to put the Thunderbirds up seven, their largest lead of the game. Of course, in this game, it was not enough. Winnipeg came storming back and Jaro delivered a clutch three-pointer to bring the Wesmen within one with 30 seconds remaining.
This time, UBC sealed the deal. Roberts responded again, this time hitting a layup with his off right hand. The ‘Birds were now up three with four seconds remaining. As the clock counted down and the buzzer sounded, Jaro put up one final three-point attempt, just missing long.
Players from the Thunderbirds bench ran on the court and the crowd was stunned. UBC’s interim head coach Phil Jalalpoor took to the court to celebrate alongside his players. The game was over. The ‘Birds were still alive.
They won’t get much of a break after this heartstopper. While this win clinches their second straight appearance in Final 8, where they will look to capture their first national championship since 1972, there’s more work to do. Next up — the Canada West final.
The T-Birds will head to Victoria this weekend to face the defending national champion Vikes with the conference title on the line. This will be the two teams’ 39th matchup since 2010. While the ‘Birds won two of the three games against Victoria this season, they’ll still be looking to avenge their loss from just three weeks earlier — as it prevented them from capturing the number two seed in the Canada West playoffs. Now, much more is at stake — not just the Canada West championship, but seeding in Final 8 as well. If this game against Winnipeg is any indication, it’ll be a good one.
