Austin Connelly, For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins couldn't sustain their white-hot start to the game as the visiting UBC Thunderbirds slowly pulled away in the second half, en route to a 108-73 victory, Saturday night at the David Atkinson Gym.
After Friday night's incredible 17-for-29 three-point shooting performance by the Thunderbirds, it was the Griffins' turn to get hot from beyond the arc on Saturday, hitting 8 of 18 three-pointer attempts in the first half, which helped them jump to an early 24-15 lead.
"We talk about weathering the storm all the time and it's one of the tough things in this league – playing a team back-to-back," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "I thought they shot the ball really well in the first quarter and then we were just able to wear them down."
With the result, the Thunderbirds improve to 14-4, while the Griffins fall to 0-16.
The Griffins were led early on by Jake Notice and Mason Hunter, who went a combined 5-for-9 from deep in the first half, eventually finishing with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Abdullah Shittu also had big first half, hitting from everywhere, including a few contested jumpers over 6-foot-10 Grant Shephard, which were some of his best 18 points on the night as the pair engaged in an intense back and forth battle all night.
Shephard led UBC with a monster double double – 18 points and 15 rebounds – while Grant Audu had 22 points and Taylor Browne had 15.
"I thought our defence was a whole lot better (compared to the first half)," said Hanson. "We held them to 27 points in the second half which was a big difference in the game – and then our rebounding, I thought we dominated on the glass and that got us some easy stuff in transition."
MacEwan held the lead most of the first half until in the last five minutes, when UBC turned it on and surged to an eight-point advantage at the break.
"They're a team that has a chance to win a national championship," said MacEwan head coach Mike Connolly. "So, you make mistakes against them and you're going to pay."
The Griffins couldn't find their shooting touch in the third quarter, which resulted in the Thunderbirds' lead ballooning to as much as 15, but the Griffins wouldn't back down.
Jesse Trussler made a ridiculous circus shot over Shepard that sparked the Griffins late in the third quarter, but the experienced UBC squad held a 16-point lead into the final quarter.
"We had a focus on our defensive plan (early on)," said Connolly. "We feel if we play five-on-five we can play with people, but when we broke down, they move around and hurt us – they're too good for us to do that."
The Griffins will host their last two home games of the regular season when they face Lethbridge on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The UBC Thunderbirds are heading into a bye week and are set to return to action Feb. 7-8 when they'll host Winnipeg.
