Recap
By Paul Cartledge
Nov 24, 2012
EDMONTON - By the narrowest of margins, the No.10 University of Alberta Golden Bears kept their four-game winning streak alive by sneaking out a 68-66 win against the No.3 UBC Thunderbirds, Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
Fourth-year forward Rob Dewar slammed down the game-winning dunk with 1:51 left on the clock, part of his 11 points on the evening to go with nine boards. Third-year guard Kenneth Otieno posted a team-high 21 points in the victory while prolific scorer Jordan Baker added a dozen.
Senior guard Doug Plumb had a game-high 23 points, adding six rebounds and three assists while third-year forward Brylle Kamen, hailing from Paris, France, tallied 10 points and eight boards.
The now 7-1 Golden Bears lead the Prairie division over four teams tied with identical 5-3 records whereas the loss drops UBC to a 6-2 record, but they still hold on to first place in the Pacific division, two points up on Victoria and Fraser Valley.
It was the visitors who jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the opening four minutes, though, and drained four out of six three-point attempts in the first quarter compared to Alberta's 0-for-10 performance.
Yet the high-powered Bears offence had no problem dialing in from long distance in the second quarter, nailing five treys as part of a 21-7 scoring bonanza while the T-birds went cold, shooting at only 21% inside the key and beyond the arc, giving Alberta a 34-28 lead at halftime.
The tides turned yet again in the third quarter, however, UBC taking a 14-2 run in just over four minutes to put them back on top. Although Alberta tied things up again soon after, an 11-3 run in two-and-a-half minutes re-improved the UBC lead to six in a wild quarter featuring a combined 48 points.
In the final frame, the two nationally ranked squads traded baskets to create several lead changes before Baker's second trey on the night knotted things at 66 with three minutes left.
Dewar's brilliant dunk coming off the base line with just under two minutes left gave the home team the lead but the nail-biting finish came from the T-birds failing to connect on five straight shots in the final minute, including three attempts from three-point range.
The Bears will spend their final weekend of 2012 conference play on the road, heading first to Prince George, B.C. to play the UNBC Timberwolves before facing off against the Mount Royal Cougars in Calgary. The UBC Thunderbirds will head home to host two Alberta teams: the Calgary Dinos and Lethbridge Pronghorns.