SEMIFINAL #1 CIS championship: First-timer Spartans stun No. 1 UBC

Photo credit Nick Pearse

HALIFAX (CIS) – Kyle Coston drained a three-point shot with 11.6 seconds remaining as the fifth-seeded Trinity Western University Spartans erased a 16-point second quarter deficit to upset the top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds 74-72 in the first semifinal of the CIS men’s basketball championship, Saturday afternoon, at the Halifax Metro Centre.
 
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
 
In their first appearance at the Final 8 tournament since they joined CIS back in 1999-2000, the Canada West bronze medallist Spartans advance to Sunday’s gold medal final at 5 p.m. Atlantic Time, where they will face the winners of Saturday’s late semifinal between No. 2 Carleton and defending national champion Saskatchewan.
 
The Canada West champion Thunderbirds, who had reached the CIS final each of the past two years, will play for bronze at 1:15 p.m. AT.
 
After being held to three points in the first half, Colston caught fire after the break with 20 points. The 6-foot-8 forward from Blaine, Wash., in his first season with the Spartans after starting his university career at Portland State in the NCAA, added a team-high 12 rebounds and was named player of the game for TWU for the second straight day.
 
“It feels amazing. I’ve played in big games before. I played in two March Madness tournaments with Portland State. But to hit an important shot like that on such a big stage, it’s pretty amazing,” said Coston, who also had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in Trinity Western’s 82-74 quarter-final win over No. 4 Lakehead on Friday.
 
It was the third meeting of the campaign between the conference rivals. UBC swept the head-to-head series early in the regular season with 91-69 and 90-77 road wins on Oct. 29-30.
 
“It’s tough to win three in a row against the same team. I don’t know if I would have wanted to be in that position,” said head coach Scott Allen, in his third season at the helm at TWU. “It’s obviously a huge win for us. Kyle came up big once again.”
 
First-team all-Canadian Jacob Doerksen, a former CIS MVP from Abbotsford, B.C., contributed 16 points in the victory, while Calvin Westbrook of Courtenay, B.C., had 15.
 
UBC was paced by fifth-year guard Alex Murphy of Richmond, B.C., with 21 points. Three other T-Birds scored in double figures including Nathan Yu of Prince George, B.C., with 14 points, Kamar Burke of Mississauga, Ont., who had a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double, and first-team all-Canadian Josh Whyte of Calgary, who scored a dozen.
 
UBC struggled out of the gate, making only one of its first six field goal attempts.
 
A Yu layup made it 11-10 with 2:21 left in the opening quarter and the Thunderbirds never trailed again before halftime. The fourth-year guard then drained a three-pointer with 25 seconds on the clock to send the Birds into the second frame with a 22-12 lead.
 
Murphy took over in the second quarter scoring 11 of his 15 first-half points. His layup four minutes into the period gave UBC its biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes, at 31-15.
 
Trinity Western responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to seven – at 37-30 – but Yu closed out the half with a bucket at the buzzer to make it 39-30 UBC at the break.
 
One of the difference before the intermission was three-point shooting, with UBC making good on five of 11 attempts from beyond the arc while TWU went one for 11.
 
The Spartans stunned their BC rivals with a 10-0 run to open the third quarter – capped off by a Doerksen hook shot - and all of a sudden found themselves back on top, at 40-39. UBC was held scoreless in the first 4:05 of the period.
 
The rest of the quarter featured three lead changes and as many ties before a Tonner Jackson layup at the buzzer made it 53-51 Spartans heading into the final period.
 
Trinity Western remained ahead until Yu scored on a hard drive to the hoop with 6:01 on the clock to give UBC a slim 63-62 advantage.
 
Three lead changes followed in the next two and a half minutes and a pair of free throws by Coston gave the Spartans a three-point cushion – at 68-65 – with 2:45 to go.
 
Whyte was fouled on a three-point attempt on the ensuing play however and went 3-for-3 at the line to tie the affair at 68 all with 2:30 left.
 
After three more lead changes and Trinity Western ahead 71-70, Coston had a chance to give the Spartans a three-point lead but went 0-of-2 from the charity stripe.
 
On the ensuing UBC possession, Burke grab a rebound off a Whyte miss and scored to make it 72-71 T-Birds, and set up Coston’s heroics.
 
Burke had a chance to win it at the buzzer but his three-point attempt hit the rim and refused to fall.
 
After shooting 45.5 per cent from the floor in the first half, UBC’s success rate fell to 25.7 per cent after the break (9 of 35). They finished at 35.3 per cent.
 
Trinity Western improved from 37.9% in the opening 20 minutes to 47.2 per cent after the intermission to finish at 43.1 percent.
 
NOTE: Trinity Western had lost six straight times to UBC since an 87-78 regular season home win on Jan. 8, 2009... Since November of 2004, the Spartans were 1-20 overall against their BC rivals...
 
STAT LEADERS
 
Trinity Western
Points: Kyle Coston (23), Jacob Doerksen (16), Calvin Westbrook (15)
Rebounds: Kyle Coston (12), Tyrell Mara (8)
Assists: Kyle Coston (3), 3 others with 3
 
Player of the game: Kyle Coston
 
UBC
Points: Alex Murphy (21), Nathan Yu (14), Kamar Burke (13), Josh Whyte (12)
Rebounds: Kamar Burke (15), Josh Whyte (5)
Assists: Alex Murphy (3), Kamar Burke (3)
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times ATLANTIC TIME)
 
Friday, March 11
 
Quarter-final #1: UBC 96, Acadia 77
Quarter-final #2: Trinity Western 82, Lakehead 74
Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 91, Dalhousie 79
Quarter-final #4: Carleton 73, Concordia 66
 
Saturday, March 12
 
Consolation #1: Lakehead 75, Acadia 67
Consolation #2: Dalhousie 76, Concordia 65
Semifinal #1: Trinity Western 74, UBC 72
20:00 Semifinal #2: Saskatchewan vs. Carleton (TSN2 – tape delayed to 22:00 AST)
 
Sunday, March 13
 
10:30 Consolation final (5th place): Lakehead vs. Dalhousie (SSN Canada webcast)
13:15 Bronze medal game: UBC vs. TBD (SSN Canada webcast)
17:00 Championship final: Trinity Western vs. TBD (TSN2 – tape delayed to 19:00 AT)
 
 
-CIS-