CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds booked their ticket to the Canada West final and the U SPORTS Final 8 in Ottawa Saturday night with an 82-71 win over the University of Calgary Dinos in the Jack Simpson Gym.
Led by 26 points from fifth-year guard Manroop Clair, the Thunderbirds outscored the Dinos 25-12 in the fourth quarter as Calgary struggled from the field and the free throw line down the stretch, ensuring a new Canada West champion in 2020 after back-to-back titles for Calgary.
UBC will play the winner of the Alberta-Manitoba semifinal set for Sunday afternoon in Edmonton for the Canada West title next week.
"I'm just thrilled," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "To come on the road and in back-to-back years qualify for the national championships is a tough thing to do. It certainly showed the resilience and I think our team has played really well on the road this year.
"Obviously they missed Santiago a bit but I thought in the fourth quarter we really showed and stepped up our defence and played a little more aggressive and I think that was the difference."
The Dinos played without guard
Ezeoha Santiago, who sat with illness.
Starting off the first quarter hot was the Thunderbirds who went on a run early to go up by 11. With the T-Birds putting pressing hard against the Dinos it was first-year
Noah Wharton who swung momentum in the home team's favour – sparking off a pair of well-timed threes as the Dinos dug deep to close out the quarter and bring it within two.
With the Thunderbirds keeping their energy-high to open the second frame, the Dinos worked hard from outside the arc – shooting at 50 per cent to UBC's 20 – to tie things up heading into the halftime break 38-38. Capitalizing on their momentum from the second quarter, the Dinos opened up the third with even more energy as they looked to keep the surging Thunderbirds at bay. The home team went out to once again outscore the T-Birds and hold a four-point lead heading into the final ten minutes of play.
The Thunderbirds took advantage of the shorthanded Dinos in the fourth. With
Brett Layton running out of gas through the quarter, and the Dinos failing to make anything drop from the line, the T-Birds were able to outpace the Dinos by 13 through the frame to take it 81-72.
The Dinos were led tonight by
Brett Layton, who battled through his own illness to post 23 points and nine boards on the night. Third-year
Mason Foreman added another 13 to the Dinos effort, while first-year
Noah Wharton added eleven.
"We haven't had our full lineup all year and for us to come into this game without Santiago who has been in the hospital and with Brett having the flu, I think we showed some guts today to give ourselves a chance," noted Dinos coach
Dan Vanhooren "Am I disappointed in the loss? Yes, but I can't be disappointed in the performance because I think the team played well enough to win."
While the Thunderbirds get set to play for the conference title, the Dinos will watch the scoreboard and wait. There is one wild card berth available to the national tournament, and the Dinos will need to hold out hope that favourites win the rest of the way across the country to give them a shot at their fifth straight national tournament appearance.
The U SPORTS Final 8 goes March 6-8 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa.
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