VANCOUVER - It wasn't their strongest offensive performance, but a few timely three-pointers from Nathan Yu were enough to help the UBC Thunderbirds grind out a 74-63 win over the Calgary Dinos on Friday to extend their win streak to nine games.

BOX SCORE

The 'Birds and Dinos battled neck-and-neck for much of the third quarter, and were tied at 37 until Yu hit his first of four three-pointers in the second half. That gave the home side a lead it would hold on to for the rest of the night, as Yu's long-range shooting provided the spark the 'Birds needed to finally pull away in the third quarter and hold off the visitors in the fourth.

An impressive rebounding effort, particularly on the offensive glass, helped the 'Birds hang with the Dinos when their shots weren't falling. They finished the game with a 48-34 edge in rebounding, including 21 offensive boards to Calgary's five, to overcome a 34.2 per cent shooting performance.

Calgary wasn't helped by the fact that Canada West rebounding leader Tyler Fidler was limited to five minutes of action in the first half because of two early fouls and an injury. He went down late in the second quarter along with teammate Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson on the same play, and although he returned to start the second half, Ogungbemi-Jackson sat out the rest of the game after a hot start offensively.

"They played really well early in that game and Jared was playing the best that I've seen him to start a game, so when he went down it was a big adjustment for them," said Hanson.

Fidler still managed to pull down nine rebounds and lead his team with 13 points in limited action, but he was the only starter to hit double digits in scoring for Calgary. Philip Labongo and Matt Letkeman chipped in 11 and 10 off the bench.

The T-Birds relied on offence from their bench too, with just two starters scoring in double figures. Brent Malish had 13 points and Kamar Burke scored 11, but their fearsome guard duo of Josh Whyte and Alex Murphy was held in check offensively. Yu's 19 points off the bench were a game-high, and Doug Plumb also came off the bench to chip in 13.

The T-Birds' ninth straight win came on the night they officially dedicated the Marlowe Hanson Memorial Men's Basketball Award, to honour and remember Kevin Hanson's father.

The win moves them to 13-2 on the year, keeping them on pace with Trinity Western at the top of the conference. The Dinos fall to 5-8, and will be out for some revenge tomorrow night when they wrap up their series with UBC at War Memorial Gym. Game time is 8 p.m.

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