By Howard Tsumura
BURNABY MOUNTAIN — No word yet if Toni Maric ever let the Buchanan Cup out of his hands on Saturday night after he and his UBC Thunderbirds topped the host Simon Fraser Red Leafs 66-54 in the 38th edition of the crosstown basketball brouhaha.
Who knows? Maybe the ‘Birds 6-foot-8 fifth-year forward took it home and proceeded to get a good night’s sleep with the shiny gold hardware safe at his side
There were plot lines galore heading into the clash between the B.C. mainland’s two oldest rivals in a series which debuted 57 years ago… you know, the one that since its 1968 debut has gone uncontested a total of 19 years.
Yet nothing could really hold a candle, in a series that has always so naturally showcased so many of the best players from the B.C. high school delivery system, to the fact that a brother duo just happened to be opposing each other, perhaps for the first time in series history.
On Saturday, the ‘Birds held off determined SFU charges in both the first and second halves, building an early 11-point lead and then never letting the Red Leafs, who featured Tony Maric’s younger brother Roko Maric, a 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman forward, get closer than seven points the rest of the rest of the way.
It was a night he literally could not let go of.
The elder Maric brother held the trophy above his head during UBC’s post-game celebration and later stood front and centre with the trophy in his arms as the team’s winning photo was taken. Later, he was asked light-heartedly if he would be figuratively holding the win and the bragging rights which accompany it, over his little brother’s head?
“Oh, for life,” laughed Maric laughed, one of UBC’s four starting fifth-year players and former product of both the Sir Charles Tupper and Vancouver College programs. “We knew, going into this game, that from the second (Roko) committed to SFU and we heard that the Buchanan Cup was happening that the rivalry started.”
Toni Maric wasn’t about to stop there.
“There was all the smack-talking at home, (Roko) was talking, obviously, how SFU was going to win. I had no doubt with me and my teammates. We’ve got a loaded squad, a good amount of veterans. And a great young group of guys that just come in at work. They almost play better than us at times, but it’s crazy to see. And, yeah, I mean, it was beautiful just to get that W over my brother. Right now he’s living here up here on campus at SFU. But if he was at home, I’d for sure be bringing this one home and rubbing it in his face.”
Roko Maric is still hopeful that the Buchanan Cup tradition continues next season and that he and his young-and-rising Red Leafs team will have a chance to avenge the loss at UBC’s War Memorial Gym.
Of course his older brother will have used his eligibility up by then, and that’s why the 2025 game held so much meaning to both.
“I one-hundred per cent had this game circled, for sure,” said Roko, the Vancouver College grad who began his career last season at NCAA Division 1 South Carolina State but elected to enter the portal and transfer back home with his full eligibility still in tact. “You know, it’s just a game I really wanted to take home.”
The pair have always supported each other, and of course beneath the all of the post-game braggadocio, the two have always been about the brotherly love.
Quite amazingly, the only thing the two brothers can’t hold over each other’s heads are the statistics they finished with.
Both had six points. Both had six rebounds. Both shot 2-of-5 from the field.
IT’S THE GAME THAT GETS FANS TALKING
Simon Fraser entered the 2025 Buchanan Cup game Saturday in the unique position of giving B.C. university basketball fans the opportunity to engage in a lot of speculation about who the best team in the province really is.
That’s because a win by the Red Leafs over a Thunderbirds team which itself was just a week clear of its upset victory over the No. 1-ranked, defending national champion Victoria Vikes would have allowed a lot of fun questions to be asked.
Of course that would have been too simple, and too fun as well.
UBC won, but of course two weeks ago those same ‘Birds were swept by Kamloops’ upstart Thompson Rivers Wolfpack who are currently sitting with a perfect 7-0 Canada West conference record. And then Victoria lost at home to Regina, also on Saturday night.
So for now, let the debate rage.
Of course just having more of a reason to talk about B.C.’s men’s university basketball scene does nothing but enhance the game throughout our province. And hey, when you think about it, when the Buchanan Cup first tipped off in 1968, one of its most evident spillovers was the way in which fans embraced a rivalry that is now over a half-century old.
NOT A WORK OF ART, RATHER A STUDY IN THE ART OF WORK
Alas, in the words of my original former university basketball broadcast partner Jim Mullin, Saturday’s Buchanan Cup “…was no oil painting.”
It was workmanlike. It was hotly contested. But it lacked the character-driven moments which define a true classic.
That said, it’s still early days in the 2025-26 season, especially for Simon Fraser, and both teams still have their best basketball ahead of them.
Here’s a sampling of what the two head coaches had to say afterwards:
UBC’s new head coach Phil Jalalpoor, responding to the fact that SFU was able to consistently cut into big UBC spurts with surges of their own, and in the final frame trailed by just seven points with 8:50 remaining after Roko Maric hit a pair of free throws to pull the Red Leafs to within 53-46: “I mean, you saw those runs they can put on. If they would have put on one or two more, we would have been in even more trouble. But I think they’re still also finding each other. All the credit to them. And that’s why I mean that you really have to fight until the end.”
UBC’s fifth-year point guard Holt Tomie was his usual sublime self, on this night doing most of his damage behind a deadly medium-range game. In a low-scoring affair, he managed a team-high 14 points to go along with a game-high seven assists, as well as five rebounds.
Freshman guard Edouard Gauthier added 11, and Gus Goerzen (Gibsons-Elphinstone) eight points. Fourth-year forward Nikola Guzina (Vancouver-King George) had nine points, seven rebounds and four steals.
“I think I feel like they’re a bit more a veteran team than us and they deserved the win tonight,” said new SFU head coach Barnaby Craddock of UBC whose starting five features four fifth-year players and the star forward Guzina. “ I mean, it’s a learning experience for us,” continued Craddock, whose newcomers logged 120 of the 200 available player-minutes. “We had multiple freshmen out there. And with the change in coaching and a lot of new recruits, we’re a work in progress still. Unfortunately we didn’t get the W, but we look forward to challenge in the future.”
SFU was led by the 15 points of its junior point guard Mikyle Malabuyoc (Vancouver College) who scored a game-high 15 points. Junior guard Tate Christiansen (North Vancouver-Handsworth) added 11 points while two freshmen, Maric and Sartaj Bhangu (Surrey-Tamanawis) added six points each.
FINGERS CROSSED FOR 2026
It’s a no-brainer that the players want the rivalry to continue. It’s in what they said, and what they held back saying.
A sampling:
SFU’s Tate Christiansen: “I cannot wait. They beat us in our house, Next year… it’s a crime if it doesn’t happen. This game is good for Vancouver. It’s good for the entire province. We’re gonna go to their house, and that’s it. Next year it’ll be at their house…
SFU’s Mikyle Malabuyoc: “We need a get back, so (it means) everything. This game’s the best, you know? Like being able to just see everyone come out for the game, the community and being able to play against UBC is so great.”
Fittingly, Toni Maric played in his third-and-final Buchanan Cup Saturday, so we’ll give him the last word.
“I think it’s the biggest stage in B.C. for basketball. Everybody wants to see SFU versus UBC.”
(Writer’s note — There is no contract signed for next season’s game when the Buchanan turns 58. We can only cross our fingers that by the time November of 2026 rolls around there will be not only a men’s Buchanan Cup between the two schools, but as well, the resumption of the Barbara Rae Cup game between the SFU and the UBC women’s teams.)
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