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 […]
Tag: UBC Thunderbirds
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
With poise and big-game flair, Victoria’s 18-year-old point guard Avery Geddes delivers in Vikes’ upset win over No. 4 UBC! Former SMUS star, BC 2-A MVP plays above her U SPORTS rookie status!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caVANCOUVER — When you perform within basketball’s most sacred space, you earn the most special moniker of having played like you were ‘unconscious’.On its own, hitting 6-of-8 three-pointers in a game doesn’t necessarily qualify as such, yet it certainly makes a case for itself when so early in your university career, just weeks […]
A SUNDAY READ: UBC stuns No. 1-ranked, defending national champ Victoria, snapping Vikes’ 33-game win streak with stoic resilience and improved prowess in the paint!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caVANCOUVER — Was the biggest surprise on Friday night the way in which the UBC Thunderbirds turned in one of their most inspired and complete team performances in recent memory en route to defeating the No. 1-ranked team in the country?Or was it, upon hearing the final horn sound in its 93-87 win […]
Adversity has prepared UBC’s fifth-year senior guard Olivia Weekes for the ‘gravity’ of any situation! U SPORTS’ No. 4-ranked ‘Birds renew cross-water rivalry Friday vs. Victoria Vikes!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caVANCOUVER — Olivia Weekes can do so many different things on the basketball court so well, perhaps it’s no surprise that in recorded UBC Thunderbirds’ program history, she sits in the Top 15 of 10 different major statistical categories.And along the way what has been most clear are the ways in which the […]
Buchanan Cup 2025: As the timeless SFU vs. UBC men’s basketball rivalry gets Nov. 15 re-start atop Burnaby Mountain, it’s time to examine the weird, wonderful origin story 1968’s debut crosstown clash!
By Howard Tsumura(VarsityLetters.ca and Special for Simon Fraser Athletics)BURNABY — If the Buchanan Cup could speak, the first thing you’d hear would be a chuckle most identifiable as a last laugh.Too many times a pawn in the machinations of the Lower Mainland’s two most enduring university athletic programs, it has nonetheless aged with dignity to […]
UBC-Trinity Western men’s hoops: Fifth-year vet Tobi Akinkunmi earns kudos for new three-point prowess! Thunderbirds unleash long-bomb barrage early to top host Spartans in early-season crosstown clash at LEC!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caLANGLEY — The UBC Thunderbirds may only be one weekend into the new Canada West men’s season, but they’re shooting the basketball from distance like they’re in mid-season form.On Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre, the Birds came bursting out of the gates behind the three-point shooting of fifth-year forward Tobi Akinkunmi, […]
Musing on the Magic of Miracle Comebacks: At the confluence of down, distance and desperation, UBC’s youthful football ‘Birds shed tackles and tropes with miraculous playoff-clinching OT win at Regina!
By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caWhen you’ve marched out the kind of young core that the 2025 UBC Thunderbirds have this season, on both offence and defence, and you’ve made a commitment to keep those student-athletes engaged in that day-to-day, game-to-game development space, you have to expect that the downs may initially outweigh the ups.Yet while the process […]