Friday, 29 February 2008

UBC shocks Calgary to advance to CIS Nationals

UBC 77, Calgary 69 In the second upset of the evening, the T-Birds blew the game open in the third quarter by continually getting scores in transition after doing a solid job inside and typically limiting Calgary to one shot to advance to the CIS Nationals. 6'3" Chris Dyck led UBC with 26 points including 14 in the second half and got help in the wild third quarter, when the T-Birds outscored the Dinos 32-24 and led by as many as 16, as the T-Birds went on a 10-2 run led by 6'6" Brent Malish, who had 4 consecutive points including a dunk and then later hit a 3 from the corner when the Dinos went to a 1-3-1 zone to try to slow the Birds. 6'7" Matt Rachar (17 points) also made a big contribution during the game-deciding run scoring inside including a dunk on an "and 1". The first half was a defensive struggle which UBC led 28-23 but UBC got going immediately at the start of the third. Calgary's 6'8" Henry Bekkering (19 points but many after UBC had taken a double digit lead) ignited the Dinos and the crowd with an early slam but for the most part UBC defended well inside, aiding by the Dinos settling for perimeter jumpers.

Tomorrow's championship final pits UBC against Alberta while the third place game could have significant wild card implications depending upon what happens in other conferences, namely the AUS, as Brandon and Calgary square off with loser almost certainly falling out of consideration for a wild card.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

With Albeta and UBC already qualified for nationals, the 3rd place game pits # 3 nationally ranked Brandon vs # 4 nationally ranked Calgary...
I can't see how it is possible for the AUS to get a second team in the tournament with this scenario.
It looks like three from the west, three from Ontario and one apiece for the Q and AUS.