EDMONTON - Fourth-year Abdullah Shittu scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Golden Bears to a 108- 68 victory over the MacEwan Griffins Friday night at the Saville Centre.

The Bears boasted five scorers who reached double digits, including third-year Geoffrey James who added 19 of his own.

The Alberta (11-0) win further cements place among the nations elite, leading the Canada West Central by a wide margin. The Griffins fall to 0-11 with the loss.

The Griffins were paced by second-year Colton Habersma who scored 12 points.

The Bears continue their torrid offensive pace this season, and the 108 points represent a season high. They currently rank second in points per game in CW play. 

MacEwan was unable to take care of the ball in this one, turning it over 20 times as well as sending Alberta to the line 17 times.

10 lead changes happened in a tight first quarter. The Bears dominated the first portion of the quarter, however a 7-0 run led MacEwan back into the game. Alberta chose to work in the paint, with 16 of their 29 points in the quarter coming from there.

The Griffins were led by 8 points from Milan Jaksic, where he hit two triples. MacEwan hit 8/9 attempts from the charity stripe in the quarter.\

Tyus Jefferson had a quarter-high 9 points for the Bears, who led 29-25 at the break.

While the teams entered the second with a margin of four, the Bears would take control of the game promptly.

MacEwan shot 27.3% from the field and added eight turnovers in the quarter. The Bears would continue to make the paint their home with another 16 points from that location.

Fifth-year Colton Gibb and Geoffrey James were the leading men for the Bears; scoring seven and six points respectively, for Gibb a quarter-high.

The Bears defence was tenacious, allowing only 11 MacEwan points to go into the half up 53-36.

If Alberta hadn't found their groove in the second, they most certainly after the half. The Bears outscored MacEwan 31-13 in the quarter, with help from James' explosion in the quarter; 4/6 from the field with a couple of Saville-shaking dunks.

The Bears entered this game the best in the Canada West in forcing turnovers, and that pedigree certainly rang true in this game. 7 of their ___ generated turnovers came in the third, with 10 Alberta points coming from them.

Abdullah Shittu added 8 points to aid the Bears effort. The game entered the fourth quarter with an 84-49 Alberta lead.

MacEwan had a better effort in the fourth, turning the ball over less and generally getting better looks from the field, but the result had already been written.

The teams will battle once more tomorrow starting at 7PM in the Saville Centre.