Paula Gorman

'Horns salvage road trip with win over Spartans

11/3/2013 2:45:00 AM

By: TWU Sports Information
Box Score

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The long-ball shooting Lethbridge Pronghorns got the better of the Trinity Western men's basketball team as the Spartans lost 96-86 Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

After the Spartans held a 56-48 halftime lead, the Pronghorns responded in the second half by outscoring TWU 48-30 and rolling to a 10-point win.

With Lethbridge up 81-80 in the fourth quarter, the Pronghorns went on a 9-2 run that broke the game open and from there, the visitors held off the Spartans the rest of the way.

With both teams shooting nearly 50 per cent from 3-point land – Lethbridge finished the night going 14 for 29 while TWU was 12 for 25 – the game was a shootout from the opening tip-off that the Pronghorns won in the end thanks to 50 per cent field goal shooting compared to the Spartans 42.9 per cent. The difference was largely the Spartans second half shooting. While Lethbridge shot 50 per cent in both halves, TWU shot 52.5 per cent in the first half and just 32.4 per cent in the second half.

The Pronghorns had five players score double-digit points with Morgan Duce leading the way with 27 points. Brent Watkins added 21 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while Jared Baker had 15 points, Alex Fletcher had 12 and Logan Reiter had 11.

For TWU, it was Anthony Ottley (Toronto) with a team-high 18 points while Kelvin Smith (Los Angles) had 16 points, all of which came in the second quarter, and Mark Perrin (Toronto) added 13. Taylor Heinrichs (Port Moody, B.C.) had a team-high seven rebounds.

"We shot with them in the first half, but we didn't do so in the second half," said Spartans coach Scott Allen. "I don't think we were mentally tough enough and we didn't communicate with each other well enough. We gave up a lot of easy looks and they hit a lot of big shots. They worked hard against us and a couple of their players rose to the occasion. I think we may have underestimated their ability to shoot the ball and that's probably the biggest thing."

The contest opened at a breakneck pace as the teams raced up and down the court, combining for nine 3-pointers and 67 total points, with Lethbridge edging TWU 35-32 after 10 minutes. The Pronghorns shot 73.7 per cent from the field and 71.4 per cent from beyond the arc while TWU was good on 66.7 per cent of its shots from both the field and 3-point range.

Ottley had 12 points in the first quarter to lead TWU while Watkins had team-high 10 for Lethbridge.

The game's torrid early pace slowed in the second quarter, but not by much. The team's combined for another eight 3-pointers, but this time it was the Spartans, and particularly Smith, dictating the play. Smith put up 16 second quarter points, including going four for five from 3-point range, to give TWU a 56-48 lead at halftime. A long trey from Smith at the buzzer capped an impressive quarter for the third-year transfer.

The teams went a combined 17 for 26 from 3-point range in the first half.

Early in the second half, it was all Lethbridge. The Pronghorns opened the half with a 14-2 run, thanks in part to 3-pointers from both Baker and Duce, as the visitors took a 64-60 lead.

From there, it was a back and forth quarter and with a Denny McDonald (Mississauga, Ont.) buzzer-beating lay-up, the teams were tied 71-71 going to the fourth quarter.

In the final frame, the teams were neck and neck, with eight fourth quarter points from TWU's Perrin keeping the Spartans close. But with Lethbridge up by just one, 81-80, midway through the quarter, the Pronghorns got hot. The Pronghorns finished the game on a 15-6 run and the Spartans were unable to threaten down the stretch.

The Spartans return to the court Nov. 8-9 when they will travel to play UBC while Lethbridge will be back home to host Manitoba.

Game Notes: TWU had a 43-36 edge in rebounds…Lethbridge was 10 for 11 from the free throw line while TWU was 8 for 14.
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