A slow start cost the University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as they dropped an 86-55 decision to the Victoria Vikes at the UFV Athletic Centre.
Vick Toor carved out a slice of Cascades history, setting a team record for career assists with 307, but the Vikes spoiled UFV's regular-season finale, racing out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter. The Cascades battled back to get to within 14 points at the end of the third, but UVic pulled away again in the fourth.
UFV wraps up the regular season in third place in the West Division with a 9-9 record, and now await the identity of their playoff opponent. The red-hot Vikes (14-1), meanwhile, extended their win streak to 13 games.
"We knew UVic was a very good basketball team coming in, and we knew it was going to be tough," Cascades head coach
Joe Enevoldson said. "Ultimately we competed for 25 of the 80 minutes this weekend – the middle third of the game today. We're going to have to compete for 40 minutes straight if we're going to make noise in the playoffs.
"We got off to a pretty rough start tonight, and credit to our guys – we had a lot more fight than we did the night before, in the second and third quarters. To cut the deficit to 14 was a testament to our guys, and that's how hard we're going to have to play moving forward into playoffs."
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The Vikes, coming off aÂ
107-67 win over the Cascades on Friday, picked up right where they'd left off. Their defence smothered UFV in the first quarter, limiting the hosts to 2-of-18 shooting from the field, and a balanced attack saw seven UVic players hit the scoresheet as they built a 26-4 lead.
Toor and rookie forward
Dario Lopez gave the Cascades a spark in the second – Lopez had nine points and Toor scored eight as UFV played the Vikes even in the quarter, but the deficit was still 45-23 at the break. Matthew Ellis led the Vikes with nine points in the half.
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The Cascades found some traction in the third – they were within 54-36 after
Jake Willemsen hit back-to-back threes, and
Dylan Kinley came off the bench to pour in eight points in quick succession to cut the deficit to 58-44 heading to the fourth.
The Vikes, though, opened the final frame with six straight points, and the Cascades got into foul trouble early, which paved the way for the UVic to pull away down the stretch.
Toor provided a moment for the time capsule, though – with just over five minutes left in regulation, he dribbled to the top of the key from the right wing and found
Jordyn Sekhon open beyond the arc. Sekhon drilled the shot to give Toor four assists on the night and 307 for his career, one better than the previous program record of 306 established by longtime Cascades standout Manny Dulay.
Kinley finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Toor (11 points) and Sekhon (10) also hit double digits.Â
Dominick Olivieri led the Vikes with 15 points, Diego Maffia had 13, and Elias Ralph scored 11.
After the game, the Cascades honoured graduating athletes Toor and Sekhon in a Senior Day ceremony.Â
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"I said it in the locker room after the game – it's been a tumultuous last little bit of their careers," Enevoldson related. "New coach, a lot of new teammates, and I think they've handled themselves with the utmost class. Whenever you leave a program, your legacy can be positive, can be negative, can be anywhere in between. And they both left outstanding, positive contributions to this program – an outstanding legacy.
"Vick passing Manny for the assists record is a testament to his ability to pass the ball, and Jordy coming out and hitting the three, it was nice to see him get going in the third and fourth quarter. They went out and they competed tonight. Ultimately, at the end of the day, that's how they'll leave their legacy.
"And it's not over – it's not done. Obviously we have a couple games to go, and hopefully we can extend that run."
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