Abbotsford – Men’s Basletball: Toor, Bains lead the way as Cascades run win streak to 10
The University of the Fraser Valley menâs basketball team extended its win streak to 10 games in heart-stopping fashion, edging the Victoria Vikes 98-94 on the road on Friday.
The Cascades got off to an incredible start, racing out to a 19-point lead in the first quarter. But the host Vikes battled back to cut the deficit to 46-43 at the half, and the outcome was in doubt until Daniel Adediran came up with a steal on the Vikesâ last-gasp push up the floor and hit a pair of game-clinching free throws with 0.7 seconds left in regulation.
The smallest players on UFVâs roster, point guards Vick Toor and Parm Bains, came up large on this night. Toor played all 40 minutes and posted a huge double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds â both team-high totals. Bains, meanwhile, scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, relishing the role of closer.
The Cascades (11-4, tied for third in Canada West) and Vikes (5-8) wrap up the weekend set on Saturday evening (7 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).
âWe came out with a great start, which is obviously terrific, but the boys really understood this game was going to be close and would come down to the fourth quarter,â UFV bench boss Adam Friesen said. âWe knew what it would take to win a 40-minute basketball game, and we gave a pretty good effort.â
The Cascadesâ spectacular start saw them build a 23-4 lead, hitting five three-pointers during that stretch with Sukhjot Bains and Mark Johnson hitting two apiece. The Vikes, though, responded with a strong second quarter, outscoring UFV 32-20 and trimming the deficit to three at the break.
Victoria grabbed its first lead since 2-0 when Jordan Charles hit a triple early in the fourth quarter to make it 73-72. But after a timeout, the Cascades reeled off treys on three straight possessions, reclaiming the lead at 81-73. Two of those shots from downtown came from Parm Bains. Later on, he would score seven straight UFV points to keep them in front down the stretch.
The Vikes hung tough, though, and drew to within 95-94 on Scott Kellumâs jumper with 11 seconds left. UVic had just two team fouls at that point, and by the time they had amassed enough fouls to send Johnson to the line, there were just 6.2 seconds left.
Johnson made the first free throw but missed the second, giving the Vikes a chance to go the length of the court to tie or take the lead. But Adediran stepped in front of Jake Newmanâs crosscourt pass, and was fouled with 0.7 seconds left. He iced the game at the line.
Andrew Morris had a strong effort for the Cascades with 19 points and six boards, and Sukhjot Bains had 15 points and seven boards before fouling out with five minutes left in regulation. Johnson finished with a well-rounded stat line: nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists.
Charles poured in a game-high 31 points for the Vikes, and Kellum had 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Aaron Tesfagiorgis sparked UVicâs second-quarter surge and finished with 16 points off the bench.
Bright spots for the Cascades included their effort on the boards (winning the rebounding battle 45-36), and their shooting from the field (50 per cent). But they managed just 12-of-21 from the foul line.
âVick had arguably the best game of his career so far,â Friesen enthused. âHe was terrific. He set the tempo of the game for us, he made players better around him, and he kept building confidence for our group with his play. Overall, he was just huge for us and he deserved to play all 40 minutes.
âParm was the closer, no doubt, today. At some point in the fourth quarter, we kind of said, âHey, put us on your back and make plays.â They single-teamed him, gave him some opportunities to get his shot off, and he was big.â
Women’s Basketball: ( with files from Braeden Willis, Vikes Communications ) Cascadesâ six-game streak snapped by Vikes
The University of the Fraser Valley womenâs basketball team saw its six-game win streak come to an end in the provincial capital on Friday evening, dropping a 91-58 decision to the Victoria Vikes.
Taylor Claggett paced the Cascades with 20 points, and in the process, became the fourth UFV womenâs basketball player to register 1,000 career points in Canada West play. She had 994 points coming in; points 999 and 1,000 came on a jump shot with 3:08 left in the first quarter. Preceding her in the 1,000-point club were Sarah Wierks (1,336 points), Kayli Sartori (1,243) and Aieisha Luyken (1,111).
That was the extent of the highlights for the Cascades (9-6) on this night, though, as the Vikes (8-5) caught fire in the latter stages of the second quarter and pulled away from there.
The two teams renew hostilities on Saturday (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).
âOur team really didnât perform well right out of the gate tonight,â UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer said. âI think we all let our emotions get the better of us, and we didnât execute how we wanted to execute tonight, and the score showed that.â
With time about to expire in the first quarter, UFVâs Victoria Jacobse sank a three but the Vikes still led by a narrow margin of 24-22.
The Cascades were within 36-32 midway through the second quarter after Amanda Thompson hit a jump shot, but UVic reeled off an 11-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back Ashlyn Day buckets, to seize control. The hosts stretched the lead to 20 in the third quarter, and cruised from there.
Thompson counted a trio of triples among her 13 points, and Kate Head registered seven points and four assists.
Vikes fifth-year Amira Giannattasio was perfect from the free throw line, going 10-for-10 on the night and recording 20 points. Four other Vikes scored in double digits: Calli McMillan posted 14, Katie Langdon with 13, and Aleah Ashlee and Ashlyn Day each had 12.
Men’s Volleyball (by Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant ): Defending champ Chargers earn comeback win over Cascades
The University of the Fraser Valley menâs volleyball team started strong, but the Camosun Chargers stormed back to take a four-set victory on Friday night at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The Cascades took a first set win 25-22 behind some timely hitting from Landon Uy, who racked up back-to-back kills in the closing portion of the set.
The Chargers took over the second set, building a lead of 16-7, before closing it out 25-11 behind a service run by Eduardo Bida. The third set was tightly contested, however the Chargers would take a 17-14 lead and carry that through to take it 25-21. The visitors carried that momentum into the decisive set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead after strong serving by Mack Mravnik, and went on to finish it off 25-18.
The Chargers â the four-time reigning PACWEST champions â improved to 11-4, while the Cascades slipped to 1-12. The two teams wrap up the weekend set on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the EFAC.
âWe just let them into the match after taking the first set,â UFV head coach Kyle Donen said afterward.
âWe lost a bit of wind in our sails and did not have a good second set. I thought we battled back relatively well in parts of the third and fourth, but unfortunately giving it back after starting off 5-1 in the third set was tough. That made it difficult.
âWe struggled to find consistency. For the first game back (after the winter break), I expected some rust in some aspects. But I thought we could have had a cleaner game, and they were cleaner than us when it counted. Weâll be ready to reset for tomorrow.â
Cascades captain Ben Friesen registered a team-high eight kills, despite shifting to the setter spot for significant chunks of the third and fourth sets. Middle Ian Jagersma had seven kills, and Uy and Graeme Hughes had six apiece. Libero Carter Bronson also had a strong performance, keeping several rallies alive in spectacular fashion.
Bida led the Chargers with 15 kills and Vitor Periera had 13.
Women’s Volleyball ( with files from Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant): Chargers rally to edge Cascades in five
Fridayâs clash between nationally ranked womenâs volleyball teams more than lived up to its billing, as the Camosun Chargers edged the UFV Cascades in a five-set thriller in Abbotsford.
The CCAA No. 8-ranked Cascades were in the driverâs seat for much of the match, winning the first and third sets, but the No. 12 Chargers rallied to take the fourth and fifth to claim the victory (21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12).
UFV (8-5) and Camosun (9-6) renew hostilities on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m., Envision Financial Athletic Centre).
Afterward, Cascades head coach Mike Gilray noted that his teamâs incredible offensive performance â UFV hit 37 per cent as a team â was undone by subpar passing and serving. The UFV squad had its worst serving night of the season, gifting the Chargers 22 service errors.
âProps to Camosun â they made a lot of great defensive plays,â Gilray said. âWe had a lot of kills, but they were still taking away a bunch. Theyâre a great team, a ranked team. It was a big offensive night, but we have to serve and pass better if we want to be competitive at the top of this league.â
The Cascades, playing their first game since the Christmas break, got off to a strong start, building a 15-8 lead in the first set behind some strong attacking play from Amanda Matsui, Kim Bauder and Alysha Cooper. The Chargers battled back to get to within 21-20, but the Cascades fended them off and wrapped up the set on a Matsui kill.
The Chargers were sharper down the stretch in the second set â tied 19-19, the visitors scored six of the next eight points to square the match.
After the Cascades claimed a closely contested third set, the Chargers stretched things out in the fourth, building a 13-3 lead. Gilray went to his bench and got a spark â Chelsea Kidd had a huge service run and Keira Fisher was outstanding in the middle, but the visitors prevailed 25-22 to send it to a fifth.
UFV looked to be in good shape, leading 10-8 with Matsui on fire, but the Chargers reeled off the next five points and finished things off from there.
Matsui had a huge night, racking up 20 kills on 36 per cent hitting to go with 15 digs. Cooper was ultra-efficient, posting four kills on eight swings with no errors.
