BOX SCORE VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds used a dominant low-post performance to roll over the Calgary Dinos 82-63 on Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
UBC won the game down low, with a 46-20 advantage scoring in the paint and an 11-1 edge in second-chance points thanks to 11 offensive rebounds.
The T-Birds got a career-high 21 points from David Wagner, who looked excellent handling a heavy workload with the team's other centre Jared Casey out with an illness. Wagner added eight rebounds and two blocks.
Brylle Kamen also had a monster night down low for the T-Birds, mostly on the defensive glass. He pulled down 16 rebounds, adding 12 points and a couple steals.
Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson scored 19 points to lead Calgary.
The T-Birds built a 16-point lead heading into the second half, thanks in large part to their big advantage in the turnover battle. UBC was averaging 17.4 turnovers per game heading into Friday, but they only coughed it up three times in the first half and forced 11 the other way.
Hanson said his team's care with the ball off defensive stops and in transition was a big reason for their effectiveness.
But it wasn't all sunshine for the 'Birds, as they did suffer through a scary stretch of the third quarter in which Calgary's Ogungbemi-Jackson almost shot his team back in the game single-handedly.
He put together a personal 8-0 run over a stretch of three possessions, which eventually turned into a 15-2 Calgary run that cut UBC's big lead down to nine points.
Ogungbemi-Jackson went on to score 13 of his 19 in the third quarter, but the Dinos couldn't sustain that momentum long enough to fight all the way back. UBC finished the quarter strong, with several defensive stops leading to points, and they led 64-51 heading into the fourth.
Thijin Moses had 14 points and led the Dinos with eight rebounds.
UBC continues to lead the Pacific Division at 7-2 on the year. Calgary falls to 4-5.
Calgary heads to Victoria on Saturday to wrap up the 2012 portion of the season. Tip-off goes at 8 p.m. MT, live on cgy.CanadaWest.tv from MacKinnon Gym.
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