The UBC men’s basketball team swept their weekend series with the University of Alberta Golden Bears through two commanding wins. The team now has a three-game winning streak heading into next week’s double header against the Mount Royal University Cougars.
On Friday night, the T-Birds stormed out in the first quarter scoring 21 points to Alberta’s 17. Their momentum slowed a bit in the second and third quarters, and Alberta took advantage. The two teams entered the last quarter with Alberta ahead by a basket.
The ’Birds saved the best for last, scoring 27 in the fourth quarter and keeping the Golden Bears to only 15 points. The final result for the first game was 78-68 in favour of the T-Birds.
The second game is where UBC really shined. A reasonable crowd of about 800 people was present for the team’s 102-76 rout of the Golden Bears. The T-Birds even put on a show during warm-up, with many of the players displaying some pretty intense three-point shooting and dunking skills.
Once the actual game started, it stayed in favour of the Thunderbirds. A.J. Holloway was electric in the first half, even stuffing seven-foot-one centre Brett Roughead from getting a basket in the first quarter, much to the delight of the crowd. The ’Birds combined for a whopping 57 points in the first half and they would continue outscoring the Golden Bears for the rest of the game.
The T-Birds are now 11-1 in Canada West play and 18-2 overall.
The ’Birds will look to continue their winning streak next week when they hit the road to face the Mount Royal University Cougars in Calgary, Alberta.