The University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team flipped the script on the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday, erasing a double-digit deficit to claim an 81-75 victory and secure a split of the weekend set.
The Cascades had been on the receiving end of a big comeback on Friday, as TRU dug their way out of a 10-point hole late in the third quarter to
steal a 69-63 win at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The hosts returned the favour in the rematch – trailing by 15 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter, UFV reeled off a 15-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to get back into it, with
Aidan Wilson providing a huge spark off the bench.
Veteran point guard
Vick Toor took over down the stretch and
Kyle Claggett hit a series of key shots as the Cascades outscored the WolfPack 31-16 in the final frame, ensuring that both teams would leave the gym with matching 3-3 records.
"Good overall team win," noted UFV bench boss
Joe Enevoldson, whose balanced attack saw seven players score between seven and 15 points. "We tinkered around with our rotation tonight, and I think that kept us a little fresher down the stretch – we had better decision-making."
After a closely contested first half that ended with TRU taking a 37-35 lead to the locker room, the WolfPack came out in the third quarter and put some separation between themselves and the Cascades. A 14-5 surge highlighted by six Brendan Sullivan points put the visitors up 51-40, and they would extend their cushion to 58-43 in the late stages of the frame.
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The Cascades finally found some defensive traction after switching to a 2-3 zone, with the 6'10" Wilson wreaking havoc with his long limbs in the middle. The sophomore centre also contributed offensively, throwing down a dunk off a Suraj Gahir feed and sinking a triple to open the fourth quarter.
"Aiden shoots them, and when he shoots them with confidence, he hits them," Enevoldson said with a chuckle, alluding to Wilson's surprising snipe from downtown. "He's just growing by leaps and bounds every time we step on the floor and play. That's really what we need from him. I'm really proud of him and his growth over the last three years, not just as a basketball player but as a human being."
Toor dominated the balance of the final frame, scoring 10 of his 14 points on the night, with Claggett, Gahir and
Jordyn Sekhon hitting timely shots to fuel the Cascades' momentum.
Claggett scored seven straight points inside of four minutes remaining to turn a four-point deficit into a 72-72 tie, and Toor followed that by blocking Asher Mayan's three-point attempt, sprinting down the floor to haul in a pass from Gahir, and finishing a spectacular layup through contact, earning a trip to the free throw line to put UFV up 75-72.
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Jake Willemsen steal on the next TRU possession led to a Gahir step-back jumper, and the Cascades hit free throws from there to close out the game.
The Cascades continued with the zone defence throughout the fourth quarter – a measure Enevoldson said was to contain Sullivan, who racked up a game-high 32 points.
"Sometimes you've just got to take a chance and see what happens, and we did a good job of it," Enevoldson said of the zone. "We talked at the quarter time, and we decided to stick with it until they hit back-to-back threes, which never happened. So we ended up just going with it."
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Claggett's 15 points led the Cascades, while Toor (14 points, eight assists),
Zubair Seyed (11 points) and Willemsen (10 points) also scored in double figures.
Mayan, with 14 points and 10 boards, was the lone double-digit scorer for the WolfPack beyond Sullivan, who carried his squad offensively.
"I think it was five minutes to go, and Vick yells out, 'We're not going to lose this game,'" Enevoldson said. "He turned the ball over a little bit too much tonight, but he's going to take some chances and we need him to cook. He did that tonight, especially down the stretch."
The Cascades basketball teams are now on a bye week, returning to action with a road weekend vs. the UBC Okanagan Heat (Nov. 26-27).
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