The Vanier Towhees spent the weekend in Vancouver, where they arranged for a couple of exhibition matches in some iconic Vancouver basketball venues.

The Towhees played Friday at UBC鈥檚 War Memorial Gym, and Saturday at the Simon Fraser University gym.

They faced a North Delta team on Friday night, coming away on the short end of a 77-62 score.

鈥淲hat a great experience to be able to play in War Memorial Gym at UBC,鈥� said Towhees coach Larry Street. 鈥淏oth teams were very excited about the game, and neither disappointed.鈥�

The Towhees held a 32-30 lead at the half, but North Delta came out strong after the break, scoring the first 10 points and then maintaining that lead for the duration of the game.

Jace McDowell led the way for Vanier with 15 points and five assists. Simon Schuermann had a good game at point guard with seven rebounds, five assists and points.

The team then stayed on campus to watch the UBC/Trinity Western University Canada West basketball games. UBC men and women both won their respective matches.

On Saturday, the Towhees faced Delta鈥檚 Seaquam Seahawks, featuring a pair of six-foot-eight centres.

While one of those players had 30 points in the game, GP Vanier prevailed 83-76.

鈥�(We were) the better team鈥� with excellent defence and outstanding rebounding,鈥� said Street. 鈥淲e out-rebounded Seaquam by 20, and forced 25 turnovers.鈥�

McDowell had a monster game ending up with 30 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists and an excellent shooting percentage.

Kai Canning added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Walter Bulman-Fleming pitched in 19 points and seven rebounds.

鈥淎 good win, and the boys were able to cap off the evening watching the SFU men鈥檚 team play Western Oregon in a very entertaining match,鈥� said Street.

Western Oregon won the game 67-58.

Next up

Vanier鈥檚 next two league games are both at home, Jan. 9 vs John Barsby of Nanaimo (result after press deadline) and then Jan. 16 against NDSS. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Vanier is hosting the 53rd Annual Towhee Tournament featuring 12 teams from the Island and the Mainland Jan. 11-13.

The Towhees鈥� first game is Vanier team has their first game at 7:45 p.m. Thursday against Timberline of Campbell River.

Prior to that, Highland takes on Brookes Westshore of Victoria at 4:25.