Regina, SK – The UFV Cascades fell 64-56 to the University of Regina Cougars on Friday in Regina.

The win makes it five-straight to open the Canada West season for the Cougars, while the Cascades drop to 3-4 so far.

As it happened: 
Both teams kept it tight all game, but with Regina leading 15-10, UFV's Dario Lopez and Ismael Hernandez found late buckets to cut the deficit to one at the end of the opening quarter.

Despite keeping it close, the Cascades were unable to take a lead in the first half and trailed 28-26 at the break. A three-pointer by UFV's Dylan Kinley just before the buzzer at the end of the third gave the Cascades their first lead of the game at 48-47.

UFV held a tight lead for the first half of the fourth, but a Dario Lopez bucket with 4:40 to go turned out to be the Cascades' final field goal of the night. The Cougars took the lead for good on a Matt Barnard jumper on the next possession, and Cade Mather hit two huge late three-pointers to put the Cougars up eight and seal it.

Top performers: 
Dylan Kinley (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Dario Lopez (11 points, 11 rebounds) each posted double-doubles on the night for UFV, while Marcus Flores and Ismael Hernandez each chipped in 11 points as well.
Lodie Kenyi had a double-double for the Cougars with 17 points and 10 rebounds while also leading the Cougars with four assists and four steal. Hayden Collier picked up 10 rebounds and seven blocks for the hosts on the defensive side.

Quotable:
UFV head coach Joe Enevoldson

"For 35 minutes, I thought we played pretty good basketball against the only undefeated team in the conference. It's a two-point game with a minute thirty to go, but credit to them they hit two threes to stretch that lead. It was exactly what a basketball game should be. It was a very fun environment to play in and I think we performed well. We just need to clean up the fourth quarter."

"We have to take care of the ball down the stretch, we have to be prepared to play against their zone, and we have to knock shots. It's a good opportunity tomorrow to come out against a really good team with a little better effort, and hopefully get that win."

Up next:
The two teams will finish off the weekend series on Saturday night in Regina. Tip-off is again scheduled for 6:00 PM PT.