The University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team sealed its first weekend sweep of the season, building a big lead in the fourth quarter and hanging on for an 84-80 victory over the MacEwan Griffins on Saturday in Edmonton.
The Cascades,
94-79 victors in Friday's opener, started slowly in the rematch – they shot just 26.5 per cent from the field in the first half, but nevertheless managed to build a one-point lead (32-31) at the break.
The UFV offence perked up somewhat after halftime – they shot 43.2 per cent the rest of the way, and led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before the Griffins made a push in the dying minutes.
The win got the Cascades back to .500 in Canada West play at 4-4, while MacEwan fell to 0-8.
"Not a pretty win, but that is life on the road sometimes," UFV bench boss
Adam Friesen said afterward. "Really proud of the boys being committed to grinding out every possession. The work we did on the defensive end, on the boards, and limiting our turnovers went a long way to securing this victory."
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While the first half was indeed a grind for the Cascades,
Sukhjot Bains sparked a third-quarter surge that put the visitors in control. He scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, in a 13-1 run that gave UFV a 51-37 lead with just over three minutes left in the frame.
A racehorse had nothing on the pace of the fourth quarter. Between UFV's electric point guard
Parm Bains and his dizzying collection of stutter-steps and star British import Jake Notice's crafty repertoire of inside and outside creation for the home side, fans were treated to a wild final 10 minutes.
Parm Bains scored four points during a critical 8-2 run that put UFV up 73-58 with five minutes left in regulation, but Notice and the Griffins hit five treys down the stretch and shot 68.4 per cent in the frame to make things interesting. But it proved too little, too late, as UFV countered MacEwan's furious trey storm with their forte: quick baskets in transition.
"Transition for us is always huge," said Friesen. "That's by far our greatest strength offensively. That starts with getting stops. I thought we did a decent job of that.
"As a group, we have some great leaders. We weren't overly pleased with the first half energy-wise. Our fifth-years really stepped up and challenged the group to play with a little bit more energy and heart. Usually when you do that, good things happen."
Mark Johnson led the Cascades with a double-double (20 points and 10 rebounds), while
Sukhjot Bains finished with 15 points and seven boards.
Parm Bains chipped in 12 points and six assists, setting the table for what UFV wanted to do.
Notice led the Griffins with 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Atlas St. Paul Butler had 16 points off the bench, while Liban Yousef added 11.
MacEwan had a more efficient night shooting the ball, hitting 46.8 per cent from the field, compared to UFV's 35.2 per cent mark for the game. But the Cascades generated extra possessions by decisively winning the turnover and rebounding battles. They gave the ball away just 11 times to the Griffins' 20, and owned the boards by a 41-30 count.
The Cascades basketball teams are back in action at home next weekend, hosting the UNBC Timberwolves in a Friday-Saturday set at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
- with files from Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
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