The Trinity Western University Spartans have got off to a solid start in their first-ever nationals appearance, beating out the Ontario champions, the Lakehead Thunderwolves, 82-74 in the quarterfinal round.
The Spartans snagged an early lead and never let go of it. They went into halftime 11 points over the Thunderwolves and were able to stretch their lead to 18 points at one point in the second half.
Spartan stars Jacob Doerksen and Kyle Coston made up half of the Spartans’ offensive, scoring 20 points each.
The third-highest scorer in the first was Calvin Westbrook, who netted 16 points. In comparison, Lakehead’s scoring was more spread out among the team, with all but one player getting on the stat sheet.
Lakehead’s biggest scorer was Ryan Thompson, who put up 18 points, followed by Jamie Searle with 15.
Overall the Thunderwolves’ lack of scoring kept them out of the race. They made only 39 per cent of their attempted field goals. Lakehead seemed to lack patience with its offence, often taking a quick shot and not passing very much in the offensive zone.
But Lakehead deserves credit for their three-point shooting, which almost helped them come back in the second half. Thompson made four of nine treys he shot and Searle hit three of six.
Spartan head coach Scott Allen also said the Lakehead point guards kept solid pressure on the Spartan offence.
Trinity Western’s defence was also on point, with guard Coston grabbing 11 rebounds total, nine of them in the defensive zone. Overall, the Spartans had 52 rebounds, compared to Lakehead’s 35.
Trinity Western will face the number-one seeded UBC Thunderbirds March 12 in the semifinal.
Doerksen said there may be a little bit of pushing and shoving against their cross-province rivals.
“It’s all in good fun,” he said. “We know each other so that’s what happens.”
Doerksen said the team’s biggest challenge against the Western champions will be getting rest tonight so they can play hard tomorrow.