A red-hot start powered the University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team to a dominant 87-60 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat on Saturday, sealing a weekend sweep at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The Cascades' winning recipe couldn't have been any more different than the one they used Friday to
top the Heat 89-76 in the opener of the two-game set. UFV trailed by 10 points midway through the third quarter in that one, using a long-distance barrage (shooting 58 per cent from three-point range) to mount a comeback.
Saturday's rematch saw the Cascades (2-2) hit just 21.7 per cent from beyond the arc, but they were able to limit the Heat (1-5) to 25.9 per cent from the field while making 45.6 per cent themselves. And rather than waiting to do the heavy lifting late, the hosts raced out to a 28-8 lead and cruising from there, expanding the margin as high as 37 points in the fourth quarter.
"Our energy was better," UFV head coach
Adam Friesen said, reflecting on his team's torrid start.
"The things that contribute to success for any basketball teams are pretty close to being the same. We've got to take good shots, rebound the basketball, and take care of it. Today we valued those things for longer stretches than we did yesterday, for sure."
Parm Bains, coming off a 31-point outburst on Friday, picked up where he left off, scoring eight points in the first quarter to help the Cascades to a 24-8 advantage. Buckets by
Dhivaan Bhogal and
Vick Toor to open the second stretched the lead to 20 points, and a
Matt Cooley dunk with just over two minutes in the half pushed it to 27.
It was more of the same in the third quarter, and UFV's starters spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
Parm Bains posted a tidy 18 points and four assists in just 23 minutes, and the Cascades were an astronomical +29 when he was in the game.
Vick Toor came off the bench to score 15 points, and Cooley (11),
Sukhjot Bains (nine) and
Jaskarn Bajwa (eight) also chipped in offensively.
Sukhjot Bains and
Jordyn Sekhon tied for team-high honours with nine boards apiece.
UBCO's Hafith Moallin poured in a game-high 20 points to go with 13 rebounds, and Owen Keyes had 12 points.
"When Parm and Sukhjot are being aggressive and attacking the paint, it really changes our offensive outlook," Friesen noted. "It gets more people involved, the ball gets moving. When we settle for too many threes, that's when we sometimes have some poor play."
The Cascades continue their homestand next weekend with a Friday-Saturday set vs. the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
