KELOWNA, B.C. – The UBC Okanagan Heat men's basketball team showed their resiliency on Friday night as they rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat the Trinity Western Spartans 63-53 at the UBCO Gymnasium.
The Heat were sparked by the play of second-year guard
Isaak Moore of Kelowna, B.C. The local product had a career night off the bench for UBCO, hitting four of his eight three-point attempts to finish the game with a career-best 14 points to go along with three rebounds.
Jalen Shirley of Brampton, Ont., would lead the Heat's offensive efforts with 17 points, thanks to hitting 5-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc, while
DJ Frye of Ogden, Utah and
Lamine Conde of Montreal added 10 points apiece.
The game was a tale of two halves as the Pacific division rivals duked it out at the Furnace. The Spartans started hot, jumping out to a 13-3 lead before eventually leading by seven after one quarter.
The visitors would extend that lead to 14 in the second but three three-pointers from Moore kept UBCO within striking distance as they trailed 37-26 at the break.
The second half was all Heat as the offence found it's rhythm while the defence smothered the Spartans.
Trailing by 10 points early in the frame, the Heat went on a 14-2 run to grab the lead, highlighted by three three-pointers from Shirley. Another Shirley jumper just before the buzzer saw UBCO up by three, 48-45, with just 10 minutes to play.
After holding the Spartans to just eight points in the third, the Heat repeated the defensive effort in the fourth. Offensively, Frye took over, scoring eight of his 10 points in the final quarter, while Moore added five, to help the Heat snap their two-game losing skid.
UBCO would finish the contest shooting 39.3 percent from the floor while the Spartans, who were shooting nearly 44 percent at halftime, finished the game at 30.3 percent, connecting on just six of their 34 field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes.
The victory moves the Heat to 2-3 in the Pacific division standings, tied with the Thompson Rivers WolfPack for fourth place. Meanwhile the Spartans remain winless as they fall to 0-5.
The Heat will look for the weekend sweep when the two teams meet again on Saturday evening at the UBCO Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and tickets for the game can be purchased at the door.
