With serious motivation and genuine support from the crowds that piled into the UFV Athletic Centre on Friday, Nov. 8, the Cascade’s men’s basketball team showed consistent determination against the UBC Okanagan Heat. UFV confidently stole the fire from under them, claiming their first win of the 2024-25 season by a score of 80-66, completing the sweep on Saturday to bring their record back to .500, at 2-2.
The Cascades’ victory on Friday night was fuelled by second and third quarter performances where they outscored the Heat 52-28. Fourth-year forward Dario Lopez had a game high of 28 points and chipped in five rebounds.
“I think we have a big dominance inside this year,” said Lopez on driving the hoop more and refusing outside shots. “We want to sit inside and then go out from there. We’ve been practicing a lot, and I feel like we’re very comfortable when the ball gets inside.”
The Cascades consistently torched the Heat in transition with crisp ball movement. Lopez explained that “[both teams] have different playing styles. I think we made them play our style … we started running, and then when that didn’t work out, we [ran] our sets, and we were getting the looks we wanted and hitting shots.”
Lopez said it was one of those days where the hoop looked big. “… I was feeling comfortable with the touches I was getting and feeling good with my shooting today.”
Compared to UBCO who had two assists as a team, UFV had eight. “I feel like our guards trust us a lot, and we trust each other. When we pass, we’re ready to shoot. That’s very important,” said Lopez.
Lopez continued UFV’s momentum with clutch free throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Despite the Heat approaching fast with a pair of buckets, guard Dilveer Randhawa connected with Lopez to close out the game for the home squad. UBCO presented a formidable challenge for the Cascades in the fourth quarter, outscoring UFV 21-9, foreshadowing the tighter battle to come the following night as the two teams met for a rematch.
In Saturday’s game, UFV’s guard Clay Kurtz, who locked in a career high of 23 points, brought the power, stretching the lead to eight in the third quarter. After a set of triples from UBCO interrupted their lead, guards Takeshi Croke and Ismael Hernandez brought UFV back on top in the fourth quarter.
“We just did the job. It was a gritty win compared to the other night, but I think we needed that. It felt good tonight to get a gritty win,” Kurtz said.
UFV’s domination of UBCO came with some wild slam dunks and slick maneuvering while maintaining the dribble.
“It feels good to bounce back from UBC and UVIC. It was two tough teams — one and two top teams in the country — so it was good to establish [ourselves] at home, get a good lead, and win the game,” Lopez said.
You can watch MBB’s next home game on Friday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. for a rematch against the UVic Vikes.
Veronica is a Staff Writer at The Cascade. She loves to travel and explore new places, no matter how big or small. She is in her second year at UFV, pursuing the study of Creative
Writing.
