Victoria, BC –  After trailing by 20 at halftime, the UFV Cascades mounted a valiant comeback attempt led by 12 second half points from Marcus Flores, but it proved to come just a bit late as the University of Victoria Vikes came away with a 90-81 victory on Friday.

The U SPORTS No. 1 ranked and conference leading Vikes improve to 10-2 on the season with the win, while UFV drops to 7-5.

How it happened:
Victoria, who led by as many as 24 in the contest, trailed by six early on after a Bennett O'Connor Layup. However, they stormed back, to end the opening quarter on a 17-2 run. The Vikes didn't slow down in the second, outscoring UFV 25-14 in the frame to hold a 20-point margin at the break. 

10 points from UFV's Flores, and seven from O'Connor, helped the Cascades get back into the ball game. They outscored their opponents 28-18 to cut the deficit to just 10 with 10 minutes to go. A Jaylen Lee jumper in the fourth was followed up by a pair of Ismael Hernandez free throws to bring UFV within six with just over a minute left, but that was as close as they would get on the night. 

Notable:
O'Connor finished the night with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Flores ended with 16 points and nine boards. 

Geoffrey James, Shadynn Smid, and Renoldo Robinson each scored 19 in the win for Victoria.

Up next:
The Cascades and Vikes meet once again on Saturday, with tipoff scheduled for 7pm in Victoria.  

To keep up with all the action follow the Cascades on social media at @ufvcascades and visit the UFV Athletics website at gocascades.ca.