Friday, Nov. 30: Cascades (6-4, T-4th in Canada West) at UBC Okanagan Heat (5-5, 10th in Canada West), 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 1: Cascades at Heat, 7 p.m.
Webcast: CanadaWest.tv

The University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball squad is riding high heading to Kelowna. They've won five in a row, dating back to an 80-73 triumph over nationally ranked Alberta on Nov. 10 and carrying through weekend sweeps of the MacEwan Griffins and UNBC Timberwolves.

Defence, rebounding and taking care of the basketball have been the Cascades' calling cards. They rank sixth in Canada West in points allowed per game (78.2), their rebounding margin (+4.9 per game) is fourth-best in the conference, and they're coughing up the third-fewest turnovers (11.8 per game).

Head coach Adam Friesen's squad faces a UBCO team this weekend that thrives shooting the ball from beyond the arc. The Heat lead the league in three-pointers made per game (11.1), and they do so by shooting the third-best percentage from distance (36.0 per cent) with all five of their starters shooting at least 34.5 per cent.

"We're going to have to extend our defence and make sure our ball-screen defence is keeping track of shooters," Friesen noted.

"We're understanding how we need to win, and that's by grinding it out – rebounding well, and trying to win the turnover battle. Offensively we haven't been great, so the guys have had to really focus in on the defensive end of the floor. And we have the personnel to be good – I think we can switch a lot of stuff, and we have some height at the wing. And the presence of (fifth-year centre) Nav Bains, in terms of defence and toughness, gets us going."

Players to watch: Cascades third-year Sukhman Sandhu is coming off a huge Saturday performance against UNBC. The 6'10" centre came off the bench to rack up 22 points (including 5-of-9 from downtown) and three blocks in just 17 minutes. Canada West's shot-blocking leader a season ago, the Surrey, B.C. product currently ranks third in that department, averaging 2.0 blocks per game. This weekend, slowing down Heat third-year guard Triston Matthews will be a priority for the Cascades. He's tied for eighth in Canada West scoring (18.0 points per game) and hits 39 per cent of his attempts from downtown.