A historic performance from Mason Bourcier lifted the Trinity Western Spartans to a 97-87 victory over the University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team at the UFV Athletic Centre on Friday evening.
Bourcier, the Spartans' fourth-year point guard, registered the 18th triple double in Canada West conference history, posting 15 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists as Trinity Western won its third in a row to improve to 3-7 on the season.
Jake Willemsen was the top scorer for the hosts, counting four three-pointers among his 16 points, but the Cascades nevertheless fell to 4-4.
The Cascades and Spartans wrap up their season series on Saturday at the UFV Athletic Centre (4 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
"Ultimately, Mason is a competitor," UFV head coach
Joe Enevoldson said afterward. "I thought we did a good job on him early – he picked up two quick fouls, and they're obviously a much better basketball team with him on the floor being a catalyst.
"You're not going to stop a guy like Mason, but you're going to try to slow him down as much as possible. We've got to keep him out of the paint . . . and that's something I don't think we did a good job of all night long."
The Spartans led by as many as five points in the first quarter, but the Cascades hung tough and were up 23-21 at the end of the frame after newcomer
Jamar Ergas hit a three-pointer for his first points as a Cascade.
The visitors, though dominated the early portion of the second quarter, opening on an 18-6 run, and they led 51-39 at the half.
The Spartans continued to roll in the third quarter, getting out in transition regularly and racing out to a 77-61 lead heading to the fourth.
The Cascades got back to within 10 points on an Ergas jumper with just under seven minutes left in regulation, but TWU responded with back-to-back treys from Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath and
Vlad Mihaila, and they kept UFV at bay from there.
Canada West scoring leader Gilbreath finished with 27 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists, and Sam Dyck and Tre Filmore scored 15 apiece for the Spartans.
The Cascades boasted a balanced attack – in addition to Willemsen's 16 points,
Zubair Seyed (15),
Vick Toor (14), Ergas (12) and
Kyle Claggett (12) also scored in double figures.
The Spartans shot an even 50.0 per cent from the field compared to 42.1 per cent for the Cascades, who struggled from the free throw line (14-for-25).
"We scored enough to win a basketball game – and I don't think we were great offensively," Enevoldson analyzed afterward. "We missed some free throws and layups early. But we've got to do a much better job of stopping the basketball one-on-one, and understanding what guys are trying to do.
"It ultimately boils down to taking away strong hand, which we've talked about all year, and stopping the ball early. We didn't do either, and they got dump-off after dump-off after dump-off in the post.
"You can't allow guys to get that deep in the paint whenever they want to, and that's what they did tonight. They're a flow team, and when they get into a flow, they're very tough to stop."
