Wednesday 16 January 2008

Wallis Leads Clan to double digit win at UBC

Simon Fraser (10-10, 9-7) 88, UBC (14-4, 12-4) 73 The Clan avenged an overtime loss to the T-Birds last week with a decisive vicotry in which they scored 31 second-quarter points to grab an 18 point halftime lead and cruised to the win. 6'8" Greg Wallis had a hoop-collapsing dunk as part of his game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds. The T-Birds, who played without 6'3" leading scorer Chris Dyck, have lost of 2 of their last 3 and 3 of their last 5 at home overall. UBC drops into a tie for first place with UVic in advance of their showdown in Victoria this coming Friday night. Howard Tsumura of the Vancouver Province has an article on last night's game UBC's title hopes hit a speed bump also a look at the Simon Fraser/UBC Box Score Also game report from UBC web site and From Scott McLean, Simon Fraser Sports Information... Vancouver, B.C. – After pushing the No. 4 ranked University of British Columbia Thunderbirds to the brink exactly one week ago; the Simon Fraser University Clan men’s basketball team ended their 11-game drought against the T-Birds by way of a decisive 88-73 victory to claim the 2008 edition of the Buchanan Cup. Utilizing 29 points from Greg Wallis (Victoria, B.C.), including an earthshaking dunk that caused the hydraulic release on the basket to disengage and the hoop to collapse, the Clan led by 18 at halftime and never looked back. The win gives Simon Fraser a 9-7 mark on the season, while the Thunderbirds fall to 12-4 in Canada West play. “It’s too bad the backboard didn’t shatter,” said a joking Wallis following the game. “It just feels great, especially coming into their gym and doing it. We felt we should have won last week when we lost in overtime, so to come out and win this game, to keep [UBC] out of their comfort zone, even when they were trying to claw back into the game, is a great feeling. We executed what we wanted to accomplish tonight.” The Clan led 17-15 after the first quarter, however utilized a 31-point second quarter, featuring seven points from Wallis and nine from Matt Kuzminski (Nanaimo, B.C.), to extend their lead to 48-30 at halftime. Simon Fraser made the most of their first half opportunities, shooting 17-for-30 from the field, while the ‘Birds struggled to find their shot, shooting only 12-for-33 in the period. “It was just clicking,” said Kuzminski following the game. “Having Nolan [Holmes] back was a big emotional lift, even if he doesn’t show up on the stats sheet. And when Wallis has it going it just makes it so much easier for everyone else, because we have open shots when people are double teaming him down low and when that happens it makes our lives that much easier.” The Clan stayed with the ‘Birds in the second half, returning fire whenever UBC started to generate momentum. Rookie Greg Gillies (Nanaimo, B.C.), starting his fourth straight game for SFU, fouled out of the contest in the third quarter. In his first game back from a concussion, Nolan Holmes (Victoria, B.C.), was then forced to play the entire fourth quarter with four personal fouls, yet was able to contain the Thunderbirds post players in spite of Gillies absence. The Clan led by 15 (66-51) after three quarters, and matched UBC in the fourth to win 88-73. Wallis finished with another double-double for SFU, his eighth of the season, shooting 10-for-18 from the floor for 29 points while adding 11 rebounds. Kuzminski potted 24 points for the Clan, his second highest career total in SFU red, while adding seven rebounds. In his first game back Holmes scored 11 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. For the Thunderbirds, Matt Rachar and Brett Leversage each finished with 14 points, while Kyle Watson added 13 points and seven rebounds. Simon Fraser out rebounded UBC 40-to-37, while the Thunderbirds shot 41.2 per cent from the field on the evening and a porous 4-for-20 from beyond the three-point arc. SFU travels to Alberta and Saskatchewan for two games next weekend, while the ‘Birds are at Victoria on Friday.

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