By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersVANCOUVER — The deeper they get into their season, it seems, the muddier, grittier and more single-minded of purpose these UBC Thunderbirds seem to become.On Friday at War Memorial Gymnasium, UBC turned in its second straight pure-guts fourth quarter of their post-season, and as in last Sunday’s 75-69 win over the Alberta […]
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Simon Fraser men’s basketball: Red Leafs lean on 40 minutes of team play, snap nine-game GNAC skid as vets and rising rookie Sartaj Bhangu top visiting Western Oregon Wolves!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caBURNABY MOUNTAIN — Two nights after letting a 14-point second-half lead slip through their fingers, the Simon Fraser Red Leafs proved to themselves what a difference a full 40 minutes of on-court togetherness can mean.Rookie forward Sartaj Bhangu equalled his own career-high with 16 points and also grabbed set a new career-high in […]
Fourth-quarter steals highlight ‘disruptive’ UBC mindset as No. 6 ‘Birds rally to top No. 1 Vikes, setting stage for a winner-take-all Pacific Division finale Saturday in the B.C. capital!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caVICTORIA — In ancient mythology, the gods made news by stealing fire from each other.On Friday, the UBC Thunderbirds made some fourth-quarter headlines of their own by instead stealing basketballs and ultimately the game’s momentum, keeping hopes alive of an 11th-hour fastbreak to the Canada West’s Pacific Division title.Trailing by as many as […]
For Simon Fraser’s Mikyle Malabuyoc, it’s all about the orchestration of the score! Red Leafs’ point guard set to dish dimes as team celebrates Filipino Heritage Night on Thursday vs. Alaska Nanooks!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersBURNABY MOUNTAIN — A great conductor will tell you that there is infinitely more to performing a great symphonic score than just looking at notes and abiding by time signatures.It’s more about seeing the big picture, and within the details, trusting that through the repetition of rehearsal that your vision is both […]
Abby’s hometown hero Dil Randhawa finds three-point redemption, fires game-high 24 points as UFV Cascades snap 11-game UBC win streak with 91-85 victory over No. 3-ranked Birds!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersABBOTSFORD — The Fraser Valley Cascades opened the Pacific Division men’s basketball campaign back on Oct. 24 at UBC’s War Memorial Gym with an injury-riddled line-up and a shooting game in desperate need of bandages.Yet despite taking an 85-67 loss to the hometown Thunderbirds that night and starting the season with an […]
Sophie Bergeron: In the wake of a career-defining 30-point, 10-steal performance, Simon Fraser’s ‘Poumon’ embraces the cerebral nature of the classroom and the West Gym!
By Howard TsumuraVarsity LettersBURNABY — Sophie Bergeron is fun to watch but almost impossible to describe.And really, what could be better?She arrived last season to the Simon Fraser Red Leafs as an athletic prodigy, yet proceeded to demonstrate the need for the kind of seasoning which was as much about the cerebral part of the […]
The story of UBC’s Cerys Merton: How a penchant for defence, inspired by a late high school teammate, has helped ‘Birds guard become her program’s all-time steals-per-game leader!
By Howard TsumuraVANCOUVER — Thumb through the pages of Cerys Merton’s own basketball dictionary, and you’ll discover that the definition of the term ‘skill set’ includes at least one discipline not commonly clustered with the likes of the game’s time-honoured standards of shooting, passing and dribbling.“I think the biggest thing is just constantly bringing that […]
A Sunday Read, TBI 2025 edition: The path of Victoria’s Diego Maffia from the depths of his 11th-hour torn ACL, to a Vikes’ national title, and now his return to the LEC as Oak Bay’s new head coach!
LANGLEY — Diego Maffia never thought basketball could break his heart.Once, in his Grade 12 season (2018-19) with Victoria’s Oak Bay Bays, he poured home 94 points in a 114-88 win over Edmonton’s Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds, the greatest single-game scoring performance in B.C. boys high school basketball history.And over a university career with his hometown […]
Buchanan Cup 2025: As UBC beats Simon Fraser in the 38th edition of the ‘Crosstown Clash’, we celebrate the Brothers Maric as a symbol of the game’s enduring ties to the B.C. hoops community!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caBURNABY 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 […]
Q-&-A with Tayla Jackson: As she finishes her first round of chemotherapy, former Brookswood, SFU hoops star, 28, speaks to her battle, and to the truth of hardcourt lessons worth leaning on!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caLANGLEY — If you’re a member of B.C.’s tight-knit basketball community, you may well already have heard the gist of her story.Two weeks ago, former Brookswood Secondary and Simon Fraser hoops standout Tayla Jackson wasn’t feeling herself.At the time, with the start of hoops season just around the corner, she was in the […]