The UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball team found redemption over the Queen’s University Gaels in a grit-and-grind elimination game on Friday afternoon, cruising to a 107–98 victory at War Memorial Gym.
UBC won tip-off and translated the first possession into a scoring play, kicking off a physical first quarter marked by line drives and pass-outs that flared tensions between teams. The T-Birds held a 7-point lead at the end, posting 31 points against the Gaels’ 24.
AJ Cummings opened the second quarter with a three-pointer for Queen’s on a dime from Luka Syllas. UBC leaned on Adam Olsen’s signature high-release jump shot for offence, testing defenders by pulling up and getting it done whenever the Gaels gave him slack.
However, the Gaels rarely gave them that space, with the paint on both ends of the floor housing gritty firefights for each rebound, regularly sending casualties to the charity strip. Even down by nine points with three minutes left, the Gaels’ bench roared alive as Syllas found his way to the free throw line.
Syllas proved himself as the Gaels' difference maker throughout the game, posting 26 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
UBC grew confident in their half-court offence, with Olsen, Tobi Akinkunmi and Gus Goerzen draining three back-to-back three-pointers to close out the quarter. At the half, UBC led 63–50.
Fareed Shittu opened the scoring in the third quarter with a pushed lay-up, carrying over quick offensive transitions from the first half. Crowds chanted the shot clock creeping down as both teams head coaches rose to their feet. Queen’s ran five-out offensive sets with hopes of praying on open-threes to close UBC’s lead. Meanwhile, the ‘Birds gave Nikola Guzina and Olsen freedom to get their shots off, keeping UBC up 87–71.
“Both of them are keys to our puzzle,” said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson in a post-game interview with The Ubyssey.
In a fourth quarter defined by timeouts, the Gaels narrowed the lead by 10 points early on. However, a textbook pick-and-roll between guard Brendan Sullivan and Guzina in front court seemed to demoralize a shaky Queen’s squad watching UBC once again widen their lead.
In the end, the Thunderbirds eliminated the Gaels from playoff contention, never once giving up their lead.
Fareed Shittu led UBC in scoring with 20 points on 81.5 per cent efficiency, pairing nicely with his 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
“Fareed is graduating this year so I wanted him to have a good one and try to extend it for one more game,” said Hanson.
UBC will face the Concordia University Stingers on Saturday at 1 p.m. in War Memorial Gym to determine fifth place in the national tournament.
This article is part of our 2025 Final 8 coverage. Follow us at @UbysseySports on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, as well as @theubyssey on TikTok, to follow our U Sports basketball coverage starting March 12.
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