EDMONTON - Brian Wallack had a game-high 25 points to help lead the UBC Thunderbirds in an exciting Canada West Quarterfinal win over the host Alberta Golden Bears 76-65 Saturday afternoon at the Saville Centre.
The UBC Thunderbirds swept the weekend in Edmonton and advance to their first CW Semifinal since 2020. The reigning U SPORTS Bronze medallists Alberta Golden Bears end their season with a cumulative record of 15-6.
It was an impressive performance on the defensive end for the Thunderbirds, who held Alberta to their lowest point total in the season. Wallack was joined by fellow forward Tobi Akinkunmi in the UBC victory, with the latter finishing with 19 points on a perfect six-for-six day from the field.
"They played so tough," said TBirds head coach Kevin Hanson about the duo, adding: "I thought offensively we created some tough matchups and drew some fouls which was part of the game plan coming in." UBC finished 21-for-31 from the charity stripe in what was a foul-heavy game for both squads.
It was an incredibly exciting opening quarter, with both teams pushing the pace right off of the opening tip. UBC got out to an early lead thanks to some great shooting from beyond the arc, going four-for-eight in the frame. TBirds forward Tobi Akinkunmi led the charge for the visitors, hitting two threes in the quarter. Alberta's Julian Vaughns helped hold the pace for the Bears, scoring six points and being an efficient outlet on offence. The Thunderbirds would end the first with a slim 21-18 lead.
Brian Wallach, the fourth-year Thunderbirds forward, was a spark plug for the visitors in the second. He scored six points and was everywhere in the low-post drawing four fouls. Alberta found some offence in their guard rotation as the combination of Vaughns, Brandon Meiklejohn, and Isaac Simons contributed 13 of 20 Alberta points in the quarter. It was a phenomenal end to the frame, including a sequence where Adam Paige hit a three with a few seconds left to presumptively give Alberta a 38-37 lead headed into the break, but UBC's Jack Cruz-Dumont hit a three himself at the buzzer to send the TBirds into the half up 40-38.
Wallack led all scorers at the break with 13 points.
Both teams appeared to make some good defensive adjustments at halftime which led to a lower scoring quarter than experienced in the first half. Akinkunmi and Wallack paced the visitors in the third quarter, combining for 15 of 19 UBC points in the frame as the Bears struggled to contain their size in the paint. Paige, regular season scoring leader for Alberta, was a focal point for the hosts, having his hand in nearly everything good that happened on the floor. It would be the Thunderbirds, however, who won the quarter 19-11 and entered the final frame up 59-49.
It was set up for a wire-to-wire finish. The TBirds took control early, going on a 6-0 run to begin the quarter capped off with an Akinkunmi three. Meiklejohn and the hosts fought tooth-and-nail to the last whistle, and a Paige three with a minute remaining shrunk the visiting lead to just eight points. It was too late, however, as the foul game caught up to the Bears and were unable to erase the lead built by the TBirds in the second half.
The Thunderbirds will await the results of tonight's games which will determine where they will travel to play in the Semifinals.
