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UFV Sports Saturday

Abbotsford – Men’s Basketball: Heat get late heroics from Mosca to salvage weekend split with Cascades

Randall Mosca hit a tough off-balance jump shot, plus the foul, with six seconds remaining in regulation to snap a tie and lift the UBC Okanagan Heat to a 68-65 win over the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team on Saturday evening in Kelowna.

The Cascades, coming off an 81-65 win over UBCO on Friday, were missing their top two scorers – Kevon Parchment and Vijay Dhillon – due to injury for Saturday’s rematch.

UFV still had plenty of available firepower – Manny Dulay knocked down five three-pointers on his way to 24 points, Nate Brown racked up 19 points, and Brandon Burke chipped in with 12 points. All three players made at least half of their field goal attempts, and the Cascades shot 49 per cent from the field as a team.

But the Heat hung around behind a strong performance from point guard Mitch Goodwin, who tied Dulay for game-high honours with 24 points.

After Dulay missed a runner in the lane with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the score knotted at 65-65, Mosca a drew a bump from UFV’s Marcus Morgan with the shot clock winding down and tossed up a shot. The ball rattled around the rim and fell through, and Mosca made the ensuing free throw.

Burke had a chance to send it to overtime, but his three-point attempt hit the rim.

The Cascades (10-6) maintain a two-game lead over the Heat (8-8) in the race for second place in the Explorer Division, with four regular-season games remaining for each team.

“(Mosca) has hit a lot of big shots for them this season, so he was used to that moment,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said afterward. “The rim had a nice roll, but that’s what happens in a close game. You win some, you lose some, and that guy hit a big shot.

“It was really good to see Manny being so aggressive,” Friesen continued, reflecting on his team’s performance. “He and Nate really had to lead the way for us offensively and did a nice job of being aggressive and making things happen. It was also a good opportunity for other guys to get more minutes than they’re used to, and hopefully that experience of a close game in the fourth quarter comes in handy later in the year.”

The Cascades basketball teams are at home next weekend vs. the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.) at the Envision Athletic Centre.

Friday marks the women’s basketball team’s ninth annual CIS Shoot for the Cure game, along with UFV Alumni Night. Saturday is Senior Night for fifth-year players Parchment and Shayna Cameron of the women’s squad.

Women’s Basketball: Cascades explode for 46-point win over Heat

The University of the Fraser Valley women’s hoopsters did their best collective impression of a flame emoji on Saturday evening, turning in a red-hot shooting performance in a 90-44 blowout win over the UBC Okanagan Heat in Kelowna.

In a game they more or less had to win to maintain realistic playoff hopes, the Cascades came through with their best offensive showing of the season.

The Heat came into the weekend with some of the best defensive statistics in the nation, allowing just 54.9 points per game, second-fewest in Canada West, and forcing opponents into a CIS-leading 24.7 turnovers per game.

But after authoring a tough-minded 65-50 win over the Heat on Friday, the Cascades outdid themselves in Saturday’s rematch, particularly in the first half. Head coach Al Tuchscherer’s charges scorched the Heat to the tune of 57 per cent shooting from the field (17-for-30) and 47 per cent shooting from beyond the arc (7-for-17). By the three-minute mark of the second quarter, the Cascades were tripling up on the hosts (39-13), and they led 51-21 lead at the break.

UFV cooled off somewhat in the second half, but continued to expand the lead. They closed the third quarter on a 14-0 run to boost their advantage to 71-37, and pushed the margin well beyond the 40-point threshold in the fourth.

The Cascades (9-7) still trail the Heat (10-6) by a game in the race for the Explorer Division’s third and final playoff spot, but they now own the head-to-head tiebreaker, having won three of four games vs. UBCO. Both teams have four games remaining in the regular season.

“The girls came out with a lot of fire, and just had it happening on both ends of the floor tonight,” Tuchscherer said.

“It was exciting. I thought we had a great week of prep . . . and we challenged them on that this week. They really embraced it, and it all came together tonight after a relatively strong performance last night.”

Sydney Williams and Shayna Cameron lit the fuse on the Cascades’ offensive pyrotechnics in the first half. Put it this way – if they were characters in the old NBA Jam video game, the ball would have burst into flames every time they touched it.

Williams came off the bench to go 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half, while Cameron went 4-for-4 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. Between them, they poured in 22 points in the opening 20 minutes with just one missed shot between them.

With the Heat forced to respect the Cascades’ perimeter shooting, space opened up inside for Kayli Sartori to take over. The Canada West scoring leader (18.8 points per game) finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with a team-high 19 points, 10 assists and nine boards, while surrendering just one turnover.

Williams (6-for-9 from three-point range) and Cameron finished with 18 and 17 points, respectively, while Taylor Claggett (14 points) and Katie Brink (10 points, nine boards) also scored in double figures.

The Cascades limited the Heat to just 24.6 per cent shooting from the field, and no one from the home side scored in double figures. Robin Aulin-Haynes’s eight points were a team-high.

UFV established season highs for points (90), field goal percentage (49.2) and three-pointers made (12). They also out-rebounded the Heat 47-33.

“I think Syd and Shayna were the recipients of some great ball movement for us,” Tuchscherer said. “That was the No. 1 key for us both nights, sharing the ball, and we have some kids who can finish. Everyone was doing their job. We wanted to go deeper into possessions, and that paid off with some wide-open looks.”

The Cascades basketball teams are at home next weekend vs. the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.) at the Envision Athletic Centre.

Friday marks the women’s basketball team’s ninth annual CIS Shoot for the Cure game, along with UFV Alumni Night. Saturday is Senior Night for fifth-year players Cameron and Kevon Parchment of the men’s squad.

“We did what we had to do,” Tuchscherer said, “but we’re still behind this team (UBCO) in the standings. We’ve got to start prepping for next weekend, and we’ve got to have another great week.”

Men’s Volleyball: Cascades complete weekend sweep of Blues on the road

The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team earned its first weekend sweep on the road this season, beating the Capilano Blues in three straight sets on Saturday evening in North Vancouver.

The Cascades, coming off a four-set triumph on Friday, prevailed by set scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 25-22 in the rematch to improve to 12-8 on the season, tied for third place in the PacWest with the Vancouver Island University Mariners.

UFV head coach Kyle Donen felt Friday’s victory had been a little ragged, but he was pleased with Saturday’s effort.

“Overall, just a cleaner game for us,” he summarized. “We did some of the little things better tonight – our passing was on point, and that made it difficult for Cap to keep track of what we were doing on offence. It was good to see us have that improvement in our passing, because it’s something we have been working on.

“And it’s not what we were thinking about, but to get that two-game sweep on the road is big for us. It was important for us to play that well on the road.”

Right side Joel Kleingeltink and left side Adam Chaplin, the Cascades’ high-volume, high-efficiency attackers, were their usual dangerous selves on Saturday, and Donen felt that left side Nick Bruce gave the team a huge spark defensively.

“He might have passed two balls that weren’t perfect, and that made a huge difference,” Donen said. “He was the catalyst for us on the passing side.”

The Cascades volleyball teams are back at home next weekend, hosting the Douglas Royals. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.) at the Student Activity Centre. Friday, Feb. 12 is Alumni Night – former UFV students will receive free admission to the Cascades’ home volleyball and basketball games, courtesy of the UFV Alumni Association.

Women’s Volleyball: Cascades fall to Blues, but clinch playoff berth

The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team fell to the Capilano Blues for the second straight night on the road, dropping a four-set decision at the Capilano Sportsplex on Saturday.

Despite the result, UFV locked up a PacWest playoff berth thanks to the Douglas Royals’ 3-1 victory over the Columbia Bible College Bearcats.

The Cascades, who were without starting left side Rachel Funk due to illness for the second straight night, dropped the first two sets in decisive fashion (25-16, 25-10) before regrouping to win the third set 25-22. The host Blues, though, wrapped up the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth.

UFV fell to 9-11, good for fifth place in the PacWest, while the third-place Blues improved to 11-9.

“We were definitely missing Rachel . . . it helps to have balance,” Cascades head coach Mike Gilray noted. “But our passing game wasn’t strong. They’re a great serving team. (Blues outside hitter) Alexis (Sebok) had a great service game, and really put us in trouble every time she went back.

“We’re a good passing team, and when we pass well, we can compete with anybody. But we missed our standards, and we have standards for a reason. We just weren’t able to get close to them tonight.”

Cascades middles Monique Huber and Mandelyn Erikson led the team in hitting percentage, and setter Reena Randhawa and middle/right side Keira Fisher had strong contributions off the bench in a double-sub rotation. But the Cascades’ passing struggles served to blunt their offence.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Cap – they played really well,” Gilray said. “But I would have liked to challenge them more.

“You can’t hit at nine per cent and expect to win many games in this league.”

The Cascades volleyball teams are back at home next weekend, hosting the Douglas Royals at the Student Activity Centre. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.). Friday is Alumni Night – former UFV students will receive free admission to the Cascades’ home volleyball and basketball games.

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