The Heat fail to earn the sweep falling in their second game on the road in Edmonton on Saturday night. In the low scoring rematch the Heat fell (66-46) to MacEwan university to split the two-game series.
Saturday, November 28th, 2015
City Centre Campus, at MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB
FINAL 1 2 3 4 T UBC Okanagan (4-4) 12 5 16 13 46 MacEwan (3-5) 16 22 14 14 66
EDMONTON, AB – The UBC Okanagan men’s basketball team were unable to capture their second win of the weekend series against the host Griffins falling (66-46) on Saturday night. The Heat’s record drops to (4-4), while the Griffins record improves to (3-5) in the Explorer Division.
The Griffins came out strong and continuing the form they demonstrated in the fourth quarter of last night’s game with UBCO. Using the fast break and high energy tempo, MacEwan University quickly raced out to an early lead which they held onto the entire first half.
That lead grew in the second quarter with the Griffins holding UBC Okanagan to a mere five points for the entire quarter, while outscoring their BC opponents by 17 points to open up a 21 point halftime lead.
The Heat were led by Aldrich Berrios, (Burnaby, BC) and Ryan Morck (Airdrie, AB,) both with five points at the break. UBC Okanagan hit 25 percent of their first half shots.
The Griffins were led by third year, Thadius Galvez, with a team high of 13 points. The Griffins received offensive production from eight different players in the first half.
The Griffins continued to lock down on defense in the second half, holding the Heat to 29 points in the entire half. MacEwan University continued shooting better than their opponent in the third quarter hitting on 40 percent from the floor to maintain their double figure lead. The Griffins were able to trade baskets with UBC Okanagan, every time the visiting team tried to make a run to get back into the game the Griffins had an answer. UBC Okanagan shooting woes continued, hitting just 28 percent in the second half.
The lack of finish ultimately lead to UBC Okanagan’s first loss in three weeks, as they shot (16- 58) 27.6% from the field compared to last night’s game (34-65) where they finished at a 52.3 percent. From the three point line they also took a hit going from (10-17) 58.8 percent on Friday night to (3-18) 16.7% in tonight’s game.
Aldrich Berrios once again led the team in scoring with 10 points. Ryan Morck followed with a season high nine and equaled his career best game on the glass as the 6-foot eight Airdrie, AB native swallowed up nine boards.
Morck’s work on the glass wasn’t enough as the Heat were also outmatched in the paint as MacEwan was able to claim 37 rebounds to the Heat’s 31.
Thadius Galvez led the Griffins with a game high of 20 points, the story tonight was the MacEwan University bench which contributed 25 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and recorded four assists and eight steals.
The Heat end the regular season before the the winter break with an amazing (4-4) record, .500 at the semester break – thh first time that feat has been done by the men’s basketball program in Canada West to this point. The Heat were able to capture four consecutive wins over UNBC, Mount Royal, and MacEwan. Moving into the winter break, UBC Okanagan have been able to capture the coveted third spot in the Explorer Division. Top three qualify for the post season.
During the winter break the Heat will be traveling to Victoria for a winter series.
The regular season will commence in January with UBC Okanagan going head to head against the first place (7-1) Thomson Rivers WolfPack in Kelowna on January 8-9.
~ Tia Sandler // Heat communications
~With notes from David Kent // Griffins Athletics