Box Score The UBC Thunderbirds claimed their sixth straight win to close out the regular season on Saturday night, toppling the Winnipeg Wesmen 79-67 at War Memorial Gym Saturday night in Vancouver.
Five 'Birds hit double digits on the afternoon, headlined by fifth-year senior David Wagner's 17 points leading the way. The veteran Thunderbird also picked up seven rebounds in a terrific individual performance.
Wagner got some solid support on offence, as Jordan Jensen-Whyte, with 14 points, while Will Ondrik with 13, Conor Morgan, with 11, and Phil Jalalpoor, with 10, all hit double-digits.
The 'Birds did the bulk of their damage from beyond the arc in the opening frame, going 4-of-13 from distance. Of those four triples, Patrick Simon had two of them for the 'Birds, as he led the club with six points in the first quarter.
For Winnipeg, the situation was the inverse, as they put up 12 points from inside the paint in the opening frame. Guard Jelane Pryce put up a game-high eight points in the first 15 minutes, followed closely by forward Oirbans, who notched six.
The inside-outside battle ended up pretty close after the first frame, as UBC held a narrow 20-19 lead.
Midway through the second frame, Jalalpoor pulled off a nifty highlight, picking off a pass from the Wesmen, racing up the floor, and dishing off to Ondrik for the easy layup.
That play from Jalalpoor was part of a 9-0 UBC run that saw the 'Birds build up a 35-25 advantage.
The Wesmen then went on a 9-2 streak of their own to end the half, hitting three shots from downtown and closing the gap to just 37-34.
William Sesay and
Connor Ward hit consecutive three-point baskets. After a UBC field goal, Farley also converted from distance to conclude the half.
A point of concern for the 'Birds in the first frame was the amount of turnovers, as UBC gave up the rock 15 times in the first half. By comparison, Winnipeg gave it up just eight times.
Morgan got the crowd at War Memorial on their feet early in the third quarter, as the first bucket of the frame was a thunderous alley-oop from the 6-foot-9 forward. Ondrik was credited with the assist on the play.
Minutes later, at the tail end of an 8-0 UBC run, the Ondrik-to-Morgan connection activated once more, as Morgan skied for another Ondrik lob, bringing it down on a vicious dunk. Morgan's second throwdown of the quarter put the 'Birds up 47-39.
The Wesmen battled hard to close the frame, with Farley and
Denzel Soliven scoring the final two baskets of the third, and again closed the gap to a single bucket by the end of the quarter, down just 53-51.
Wagner continued to make his presence felt on the inside throughout the third quarter, as the 6-foot-8 forward finished the third frame with 15 points, the highest mark.
At the start of the final frame, the 'Birds came out firing on all cylinders. The home side reeled off an 11-1 run to open the quarter, including five points from Morgan and a highlight-reel steal-turned-layup from guard Taylor Browne.
The 'Birds opened up a 16-point lead with two minutes remaining in the contest, and this time, there was no comeback in the cards for Winnipeg.
The Wesmen finish the regular season with a 10-10 record, good for seventh in the Pioneer Division. Winnipeg will travel to Regina for a best-of-three Play-In series next weekend against the Cougars. Games 1 and 2 will be on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at 7 p.m. CT. A third game, if necessary, will be played on Sunday, also at 7 p.m. CT.
