Vancouver, BC – Courtney Anderson had 19 second half points, but the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades came up just short in a 93-83 decision to the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday at the War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.  

Despite a slow start that saw the Thunderbirds take a 17-9 lead early, the Cascades finished the first quarter strong to trail by just six at the break.

After a second quarter that saw each team put up 18 points, A 12-point outburst from UBC's Triston Mathews gave the hosts a double-digit advantage for most of the third. Anderson responded for UFV by hitting three from beyond the arc to help pull his team back within nine heading into the fourth.

The Cascades cut the deficit to just two in the fourth quarter, but a pair of threes from UBC's Sandhu set the hosts lead back to eight. UFV rallied once more to pull themselves within four, but once again the Thunderbirds pulled away to seal the game.

Top performers
UFV's Courtney Anderson led all scorers with 27 points on a tidy 50% shooting. Dario Lopez had 18 points for the Cascades along with two steals and a block before he fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Sukhman Sandhu led UBC in scoring with 26 points to go along with three blocked shots, while Triston Matthews and Jamesly Jerome both put up double doubles. Matthews scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds, Jerome chipped in 14 points and 10 boards.

Quotable
UFV head coach Joe Enevoldson

"To cut it to two with four minutes left to go, we had some opportunities. The ball moved way better tonight than it did last night, and I thought we played with a higher sense of urgency defensively. We showed what we can be, what we are capable of being, and I think at this point that is crucial."

"We've played two of the top-10 teams in the country in back-to-back weekends on the road and shown that we can compete with them, especially on a Saturday night. Now we have to put it all together when we come home next weekend against Saskatchewan and play both nights with a sense of urgency."

Where they sit
UBC improves to 13-5 on the season with the win, while the Cascades drop to 7-11 in Canada West play.

UFV now returns home with a chance to clinch a spot in the Canada West Playoffs as they finish out their regular season schedule next weekend against the Saskatchewan Huskies. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on Friday, and 7 p.m. on Saturday at the UFV Athletic Centre.