The return of Kyle Coston paid big dividends for the Trinity Western men’s basketball team.
Coston missed Friday’s 78-77 victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen, but returned to play the next night against the Manitoba Bisons.
And with him in the line-up, the Spartans were a different team, using a 30-10 second quarter to cruise to a 95-68 victory.
Both games were at the Langley Events Centre and Trinity Western improved to 2-2.
“It’s the first chance we’ve, as coaches, seen a lot of success,” said Spartans coach Scott Allen. “It’s a payoff for the all individual work [coach] Bill [Ruby] has been doing with the guys. I think we are slowly becoming who we are capable of being. It’s a long road but I think we’re taking little steps to get there.
“I thought we shared the ball really well and I thought our defensive intensity in the first half was great. We looked after the ball better. We got into our sets better. And the addition of Kyle [Coston] back in the lineup calmed our nerves a bit too.”
Coston finished with a game-high 25 points while Calvin Westbrook had 18.
Another difference was the Spartans cutting their turnovers nearly in half, committing just 17 on Saturday compared to 36 the night before.
In that game, Trinity Western led by 14 in the third quarter before Winnipeg came back and had a chance for the win but their shot at the buzzer missed.
Tristan Smith led the Spartans with 22 points and eight assists.
