The University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team saw its season come to an end at the hands of the Winnipeg Wesmen, who rallied for an 83-79 victory over the Cascades in the Round of 16 at the Canada West playoff tournament in Calgary.
The Cascades led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter and were up 10 late in the third, but the Wesmen battled all the way back to punch their ticket to the CW quarter-finals.
"Credit to Winnipeg – they hit shots when they needed to," UFV head coach
Joe Enevoldson said afterward. "Don Dayrit was phenomenal in the second half. He took it upon himself – hit a couple threes early (in the third quarter), and showed why he's the second-leading scorer in the conference.
"We settled a little bit offensively – got a little iso-dominant, and that was enough to swing it. They got to the line a lot, and we didn't. Unfortunately that's the way the game unfolded."
After a disjointed start by both teams, the Cascades gained some separation in the first quarter via the three-ball.
Jake Willemsen connected on a pair of treys from the left corner – the second of which beat the first-quarter buzzer – as UFV took a 22-14 lead into the second.
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The Cascades continued to cook from downtown –
Dylan Kinley drained back-to-back triples midway through the second as UFV extended the lead to 16 (37-21). A four-point play from Eric Racine helped stymie the Cascades' momentum, igniting an 11-2 Wesmen surge, and they were able to get back to within 42-35 at halftime.
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The Wesmen made their move late in the third quarter as Joshua Gandier caught fire from beyond the arc. He drained a trio of triples in quick succession bridging the third and fourth quarters, igniting a 14-2 run to help his squad transform a 59-49 deficit into a 63-61 lead.
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Winnipeg led by as many as five midway through the fourth, but the Cascades battled back to lead 75-72 after
Vick Toor converted an acrobatic reverse layup and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions. The Wesmen kept coming, though, and grabbed a 77-76 lead after Racine made a fast-break layup with 40 seconds left in regulation.
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After a pair of Shawn Maranan free throws put Winnipeg up 79-76,
Jordyn Sekhon had a clean look to tie – reminiscent of
his big fourth-quarter shot in the 2020 playoffs against the Wesmen – but his three-pointer from the right wing rimmed out. Winnipeg was able to make their free throws in the dying seconds to close out the win.
Zubair Seyed led the Cascades with 16 points off the bench, and Toor stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Dylan Kinley (12 points) and
Kyle Claggett (11 points) also scored in double figures for UFV.
Dayrit posted a game-high 23 for Winnipeg, Racine scored 21, and Spas Nikolov had 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Turnovers cost the Cascades in this game – they gave the ball away 25 times compared to just 14 for the Wesmen, who move on to face the top-seeded Alberta Golden Bears in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Afterward, Enevoldson tipped his cap to graduating seniors Sekhon and Toor, who are set to close the book on their university basketball careers.
"I want to thank Jordy and Vick for leading the program and establishing their legacy," he said. "Jordy obviously hit the shot heard round the world vs. Winnipeg a couple years ago, and Vick leaves as our all-time assist leader.
"They've had tremendous careers, and each year they got a little bit better. They both had career years this season, and that's a credit to them.
"And for the rest of the guys, time to get better."
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