EDMONTON - The UBC Okanagan Heat men's basketball team fell to the Alberta Golden Bears, 82-65, on Saturday at the Saville Community Sports Centre. The Heat fought hard but came up short tonight, settling for the weekend split.

Jalen Shirley led the Heat with a game-high 17 points, shooting 40 percent from the field and adding three assists. Jeffrey Tezo contributed 13 points, hitting 50 percent of his three-point attempts and grabbing four rebounds. DJ Frye made an impact on defence with two steals while also contributing four points and five rebounds. Additionally, Leon Schenker added 10 points, shooting 50 percent from the field and securing 2 rebounds.

The Heat concluded the first quarter trailing the Golden Bears 20-10. UBCO was able to match Alberta in points in the paint with ten and recorded two blocks and one steal. However, Alberta capitalized on their opportunities, shooting eight-for-nineteen from the field, including two 3-pointers, and secured twelve points from their bench.

In the second, UBCO managed to cut the lead down to seven off a Shirley jumper but a subsequent 9-0 run from the Golden Bears helped them to a comfortable 42-28 advantage at the break.

The Heat came flying out of the gates to start the third quarter thanks to an 11-2 run, including eight points from Shirley, to cut the deficit to just five. But the Bears responded midway through the frame, going on a 10-0 run of their own to stretch their lead.

UBCO was never able to get back into the match following the run as they ultimately fell 82-65.

The loss drops the Heat to 4-8 on the season while the Golden Bears improve to 4-8.

UBCO will continue their road trip next week, opening play on Thursday, January 23 against the Trinity Western Spartans (6-7) in Langley, B.C. Game time is set for 8 p.m. and the action can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv presented by BioSteel.