The UFV Cascades' offence was firing on all cylinders on Saturday evening, and
Matt Cooley was at the controls.
The fifth-year centre registered the first triple-double in Cascades history, racking up 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to power his squad to an 87-58 blowout win to seal a weekend sweep of the UNBC Timberwolves on the road in Prince George.
Cooley's triple-double was just the 17th in Canada West history, and his 13 boards were the most ever recorded in a triple-double. Perhaps most impressively, at 6'9", he's easily the tallest player to hit double digits in three categories in conference history. Other players to do it range from 5'10" (Winnipeg's Erfan Nasajpour, Calgary's Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson) to 6'4" (Manitoba's Paul Fust, SFU's Sean Burke).
"You usually find someone of his height who can do the scoring and rebounds, but not usually the assists," marveled Cascades head coach
Adam Friesen. "He's definitely showing all three of those facets this season at a high level.
"He's having a tremendous year, and to be rewarded with this type of performance is a great honour."
The Cascades (6-6) were hot right out of the gates, leading by as many as 11 points in the first quarter as
Parm Bains scored 10 points in the frame.
The T-Wolves (4-8) fought back to tie it 22-22 early in the second, but UFV responded with an 11-2 run, and
Jordyn Sekhon's triple gave the visitors a 43-33 lead at the break.
The Cascades led by double digits for the entirety of the second half, with the ball moving beautifully at the offensive end. Cooley wrapped up his triple double with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter, threading a pass to
Dhivaan Bhogal under the bucket for an assist.
Reflecting on his slice of Cascades history, the Coquitlam, B.C. product said it felt "amazing" to complete the triple double, and noted he takes great pride in his rare ability – for a big man – to pass the ball effectively.
"The game is definitely changing, that's for sure," Cooley said. "Just looking at guys like (Denver Nuggets centre Nikola) Jokic who can pass out of the post and really impact the way their team plays basketball. I think it's a great thing to be able to impact winning without scoring the ball. I like to see my teammates as well as myself on the stat sheet, so to me, getting an assist is way better than scoring."
The Cascades shot a solid 47.7 per cent from the field for the game, while limiting the T-Wolves to just 32.8 per cent. They also dominated on the glass, out-rebounding UNBC 47-33.
"We're sharing the ball really, really well, and a lot of guys are playing with a lot of confidence at the offensive end," Friesen said. "But at the same time, we were really locked in on defence this weekend. It's something we've been working on all season, and it's really coming together."
Parm Bains knocked down five three-pointers on his way to a game-high 23 points, and
Sukhjot Bains (14 points) and
Jaskarn Bajwa (12) also scored in double digits for the Cascades.
Tyrell Laing led the T-Wolves with 20 points, and Fareed Shittu came off the bench for 13 points and 10 boards.
The Cascades basketball teams are back in action next week with a home-and-home series vs. Trinity Western. Games run Thursday at the Langley Events Centre (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.).
