Kelowna (Jordie Arthur) – Dylan Kinley exploded offensively and the UFV Cascades came out flying early to top the UBCO Heat 99-82 on Tuesday night.
The Cascades led nearly wire-to-wire in this one after taking a commanding 36-16 lead in the first quarter, and leading by as many as 26 in the third quarter, to open 2023 with a victory.
The Cascades shot 53.5 percent from the field, including a fantastic 12-17 from three-point range. In contrast the Heat only managed to go 8-30 from distance in a 34.1 percent shooting performance.
Top performers:
Kinley was on fire for the Cascades all night knocking down a game-high 33 points, including seven of 10 from three-point range, to mark his highest total in a Cascades uniform. Kinley added six rebounds, five assists, and seven steals on the night.
Chris Jackson made an impact for UFV at both ends as he picked up 13 points, three rebounds, and a game-high three blocks tonight.
Gus Goerzen had 17 points and five rebounds in just 15 minutes for the heat in the effort. Goerzen shot 5-11 from beyond the arc in the contest.
Cascades head coach Joe Enevoldson
“I thought we played really inspired basketball in the first quarter. We’ve always had the capability to shoot the ball like that, but I think it was really guys forcing issues. Tonight, the ball was moving more freely and when we do that, we have some guys that can knock down open jump shots.”
“Right now, Dylan [Kinley] is seeing his defence really dictating his offence. He’s coming up with steals and playing with great effort, and I think that’s really carrying over into the offensive end.”
“There is still a lot of things we can work on here. We gave up 25 offensive rebounds and they are obviously a very good rebounding team, but we have to do a better job of cleaning up the glass. We also turned the ball over 31 times, so hopefully tomorrow we can cut both of those in half and we’ll be in a pretty good spot.”
Where they sit:
The win boosts the Cascades to a 4-5 record on the season, while the Heat fall to 3-6. The two teams face off again on Wednesday for the rematch with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. in Kelowna (Canada West TV).
