The host UBC Thunderbirds Mens basketball team defeated the Ottawa Gee Gees 93-76 to take 5th in the 2016 CIS Basketball Nationals they advanced following a 69-68 win over McGill the previous night.
As the host for the CIS Nationally televised championship, the event attracted 24,754 fans over the four day event for an (average) attendance of 6,188 for the for the final game.The Thunderbirds led from the start against the Gee Gees after a close 22-20 first quarter and were up 45-39 heading to halftime.
The third quarter Ottawa managed to keep the game close trailing only by 9 points as UBC outscored Ottawa 21-18 with the T-Birds maintaining their edge in the game.
The fourth saw the “Birds” outscore the Gee Gees 27-19 pulling away for a resounding 93-76 win managing a 5th place finish in the CIS 8 Nationals.
Head Coach Kevin Hanson stated “he was very proud of the guys in their performance at the Nationals on their home court with consecutive games in 3 days, which saw a tough start for the team, but the end result was a great feat for the university.”
He continued “it was a great year for UBC sports winning several titles and this bodes well for the future of the basketball ball team with the core of the team returning in 2017.”
David Wagner finished his UBC career on a high note as this game saw him finish with 11 points hitting 5 of 7 field goals, 1 for 1 from line, 3 rebounds, forcing 5 turnovers by Ottawa.
The Birds were led by Connor Morgan with 25 points followed by Phillip Jalalpoor and Will Ondrik with 16 rounding out the players in double figures was graduating player David Wagner with 11.
The Gees were led by Caleb Agada and Matt Plunkett (18 points) and Brody Maracle (12 points) of the three players in double figures.
Scoring by Quarters 1 2 H 3 4 F
UBC 22 23 45 21 27 93
Ottawa 20 19 39 18 19 76
UBC hit 69.2% on their field goals, while Ottawa was at 50% for FG’s, with UBC 5 of 12 41.7%, Ottawa 9 of 28 for 32.1%
from the free throw line with the “Birds” 20 of 23 for 87% and the Gee Gees 13 of 19 68.4%.
Basketball Canada they celebrated it’s 125th anniversary from when the game was invented by founder Walter Naismith a Canadian historian following his idea of throwing a ball into an apple basket.
Twelve (12) officials were used from seven (7) provinces in which a select process by the CIS was utilized for the final selection process.Several factors were taken in for this process which included supervisions/evaluations, on-floor positioning, communication and overall game management skills so as they were all on the same “page”.
Congrats to not only UBC for managing a 5th place finish, but hosting such a prestigious National Championship.
Let’s hope the next time it comes west, it doesn’t take so long, given the last was in 1972.
About Sportswave
Sportswave Productions is located in Delta, BC.
Sportswave promotes/broadcasts Amateur Sports within the Lower Mainland.
Sportswave Productions is owned and operated by Steve Erickson who has a long standing career within the broadcasting and refereeing for Minor League Sports in BC and across Canada.
Steve is recognized by his peers, associations, communities and colleagues for his endless contributions to multiple Amateur Sports within the Lower Mainland.
Steve was recognized as Volunteer of the Year Award by the Delta Chamber of Commerce in 2015 and inducted into the Vancouver Canadians Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.
He was recognized by Ravi Kahlon, BC’s MLA Minister for Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation in September 11, 2017.
In December 2022 he was Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Pin.
Awarded Rotary Paul Harris Fellow Award for tangible for significant assistant given for the better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.
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