The UFV Cascades came into the weekend at .500, and ended with a pair of wins that landed them at 6-4. overcoming the talented UNBC Timberwolves in back-to-back games. The matches were close at times, but due to excellent coaching and responsive and talented players, Cascades fans were once again treated to a great weekend of basketball.
The first quarter of Friday night’s game was going great for the Cascades, but head coach Adam Friesen saw that changes need to be made if UFV were going to continue their dominant play. The score at the quarter was 19-10 for UFV but turnovers helped UNBC stay in the game. The second quarter saw UNBC come back a bit, garnering a timeout by UFV with a score of 19-15. UFV’s defence was there, but the offence was lagging just a bit. UNBC however had established their offence and this gave the Cascades more to think about coming down the stretch of the first half. A second timeout was called and with a score of 19-17, coach Friesen was livid. That seemed to be exactly what helped UFV turn the game around, because following the fiery timeout, UFV was on a roll. UFV finished the second quarter with a total score of 38-20, largely due to excellent guard play from Vick Toor and Parm Bains and some great defensive play from Cascades centre Sukhman Sandhu.
The third quarter was good for the Cascades, but not as good as the second. UNBC began to catch up with some good offensive plays and it looked like the game may get close. This was corrected by UFV, who in the fourth quarter turned up the scoring big time. The score was 81-62 for the Cascades, and five players scored in double figures. The 19-point win was big for the Cascades, who developed a reputation for starting slow on Friday nights of weekend back-to-backs. This was proven wrong, but now a brand-new question had emerged: What happens when the Cascades actually play great on Friday? Can they still show up in excellent form on the Saturday?
Early on in the second game of the weekend, it was clear that Timberwolves’ #4 Jovan Leamy was in for a big night. How could we tell? He opened the scoring with a dunk! It wouldn’t be his only dunk of the game either, as he had big success throughout Saturday’s game.
The first-quarter score read 27-23 for UNBC, which was a little shocking considering how well the Cascades looked just a night prior. UNBC also managed to do something they hadn’t been able to do on Friday: hold a lead. Going into the half, it was clear that UFV would have to correct their scoring woes, while also finding a way to slow down Leamy, who had 15 points in the first half. In the third quarter, at the 6:17 minute mark Vick Toor hit a layup to make the score 47-45 and, in some ways, it began to set up the comeback for UFV. Parm Bains and Sukhman Sandhu started balling out of control, with Bains shooting from deep as well as mid-range, and Sandhu shooting what seemed like constant well-timed three-point shots and defending with passion. UFV would find their stride and win the rematch 85-79, marking a back-to-back sweep for the Cascades.
Now 6-4, the Cascades will look to keep their win streak when they take on the UBC Okanagan Heat on the road this weekend.
Image: UFV Cascades/Flickr
