ABBOTSFORD – The Regina Cougars put an end to the University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team's nine-game win streak on Friday evening, knocking off the Cascades 87-70 at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The third quarter was the difference – a one-point UFV halftime lead (36-35) evaporated as the Cougars outscored the hosts 32-14 in the frame, and they cruised from there.
The Cascades (12-7) and Cougars (10-9) renew hostilities on Saturday (7 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op) in the Canada West regular-season finale for both teams.
"They just took it to us," UFV head coach
Adam Friesen said afterward, reflecting on the third quarter. "They were aggressive taking it to the rim, crashing the glass, and they got their momentum getting too many easy shots, and it went from there.
"We've got to understand what went poorly and try to get back to the things we've been doing well."
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the first half – UFV's 6-0 run to start the game represented the largest lead for either team, and the hosts took a 36-35 edge to the locker room on
Daniel Adediran's fast-break bucket late in the second quarter.
The first four minutes of the third quarter proceeded according to the first-half script, with
Parm Bains's triple giving UFV a 44-42 lead at that juncture. Regina exploded at that point, reeling off an incredible 25-3 run highlighted by eight points from Benjamin Hillis and three-pointers from four different players. When it was all said and done, the Cougars led 67-47, rendering the fourth quarter largely academic.
"I'd love to say there was a magic bullet in there at halftime, but basketball sometimes is a game of momentum," Regina head coach Steve Burrows said. "We hit some shots early in the third quarter, and started rolling a little bit. And sometimes when you get on the right side of those things, it's a ball rolling down the hill. Tomorrow, it could look like the exact opposite. They're a pretty explosive team, and they're capable of doing the same thing."
Benjamin Hillis finished with a game-high 23 points for the Cougars, and four of his teammates – Brayden Kuski (18), Greishe Clerjuste (14), Shaquille Harris (11) and Samuel Hillis (10) – scored in double figures.
Parm Bains counted five treys among his team-high 17 points, and
Sukhjot Bains posted 11 points and six boards for the Cascades. UFV surrendered 19 turnovers to Regina's six.
"We knew what they've done," Burrows said, acknowledging the Cascades' win streak coming in. "They've had a great year – nine wins in a row, at this point it's them, Calgary and probably Alberta that have run off streaks like that (this season). That's elite company there. We knew we were going to have to play well. I think we brought good energy and good focus on the defensive end, especially in the third quarter."
BOUNCE PASSES: Saturday marks the final regular-season home game for Cascades fifth-year players
Parm Bains,
Sukhjot Bains and
Matt Cooley. The trio will be celebrated in a post-game Senior Night ceremony. . . .
Parm Bains's five-trey performance gives him 78 on the year, moving him to within four of the CW all-time record for three-pointers in a season. The current mark of 82 is co-held by Nathan Dixon (Manitoba Bisons, 2008-09) and Daniel Ferguson (Alberta Golden Bears, 2010-11).
