Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – What was a one-point game after the first quarter quickly ballooned into a rout after the UBC Thunderbirds got white hot from the three-point line on Friday night.
The visitors knocked down 17-of-29 attempts from beyond the arc as they built as much as a 44-point lead before cruising in for landing in a 104-67 romp over the MacEwan Griffins in Canada West men's basketball action at the David Atkinson Gym.
"If we don't give up that many, it's a game," said MacEwan Griffins head coach Mike Connolly, whose troops couldn't match the T-Birds' sizzling 60.9 per cent field goal percentage, hitting just 39.4 per cent of their shot attempts.
It was a game in the opening quarter as the Griffins actually led by as much as four before Taylor Browne hit three of his six three-pointers in the final four minutes to ignite the Thunderbirds' offence from off the bench.
"Coach Connolly does a great job getting his guys fired up and I thought they started the game really well," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "We weren't really happy with our defence, but still I thought they competed really hard in that first quarter.
"Once we got on a roll, hitting our own threes, I think that was the big difference. It just opened it up a little bit. We got on a run and then our bench came in and they got on a run, too. I thought our bench played exceptionally well tonight."
UBC's bench outscored MacEwan's 46-21, although almost half of those came from Browne, who bucketed 20 points in playing the second-most minutes of any T-Bird (25:23). In other words, they rode the hot hand.
"Taylor Browne, having 17 in the first half, hitting his threes, that's big," said Hanson, whose team improved to 13-4 with the win. "When you have a guy shooting the ball that well, that made a big difference."
Grant Audu led the Thunderbirds with 21 points, while Grant Shephard had 13 points and six rebounds. UBC's leading scorer and reigning Canada West first team all-star Jason Cohee was held to just 11 points, but his game-high eight assists were crucial for the Thunderbirds' offence.
The T-Birds also outrebounded MacEwan 44-23 in the contest.
"It's been a focal point for us," said Hanson. "The last couple of years, we've really dominated the glass and it's made a huge difference.
"Obviously, it was a little bit of a point of emphasis for us, but also our height as well. Grant Shephard, as athletic as he is, he's getting rebounds above the rim. I thought our height bothered them a little bit in that area, for sure."
Defensive intensity all over the court was an issue for the Griffin, who were unable to build off a strong first quarter. They fall to 0-15 after the defeat.
"We lost our defensive focus," said Connolly. "We started switching; we didn't need to. We didn't play ball screen defence like we scouted when we did the first quarter. It's just what I said to the guys at half, 'you've got to take accountability for doing what we ask you guys to do because when we do it, it works.' "
Jake Notice led the Griffins with 14 points, while Abdullah Shittu and Deonte Doslov-Doctor each had 11.
However, defensive lapses were too much to overcome.
"We take moments where we think we can relax," added Connolly. "When we relax, good teams will burn you. We'll just have to keep working on that focus and grinding it out. We've got to come back tomorrow, though, and play better perimeter defence on the three-point line."
The teams will meet in the rematch on Saturday (7 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
