By Nathan Hutton (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: February 5, 2014
UFV’s men’s basketball team is doing something this year they have never done before.
Entering this weekend’s contests against the University of Regina and Brandon University the Cascades were riding an eight-game winning streak, crashing through their previous record of six.
The first contest of the weekend was against the University of Regina Cougars. The Cougars, who are a big, strong, and physical team, made it a point from the outset of the game to attack the Cascades defense, dictating the physical style of game and keeping the two team close on the scoreboard.
Ten lead changes in the first three quarters put the Cascades in a rough position going into the fourth only up by three points. However the Cascades didn’t give up and worked hard to widen the gap, outscoring the Cougars in the fourth quarter by a 10-point margin.
The UFV win was highlighted by a breakout performance from leading scorer Kevon Parchment who registered an incredible 36 points, shooting 13-22 from the field and 50 per cent from three-point range. He earned Sasquatch player of the game honours, grabbing seven rebounds and three steals to go along with his scoring outburst.
The second game of the weekend against the University of Brandon Bobcats was set up as a far more difficult task, owing to the Bobcats being a far more athletic team than the Cougars.
The Cascades were not prepared for the speed the Bobcats brought and had a rough first quarter. The Cascades had to deal with 6’5 Jordan Reaves and 6’6 Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak, who both registered 14 points and did a good job of controlling the key for the Bobcats. However, it was the resilience of the Cascades that would prove the difference; they out-scored the Bobcats 44-21 in the second and third quarters, and glided across the court in the fourth, capturing the win 83-71 and extending their record-breaking run to 10 straight wins.
The Cascades were led by Manny Dulay and Jasper Moedt (Sasquatch player of the game). Dulay registered 18 points while knocking down six threes to go along with his six rebounds. Moedt once again led his team in a big, big way; he came close to registering a rare basketball feat in a 20-20, coming one rebound shy.
Despite the statistical heroics, head coach Adam Friesen saw room for imporvement.
“I don’t think we played very well for very long,” he said. “I think we played good enough to get a win tonight, but overall I think we played about half a game of good basketball.”
Next week the Cascades will travel to Prince George to face the UNBC Timberwolves. The Timberwolves sit at seventh in the division and hold a dismal record of just four wins and 14 losses.
“I am planning on us playing better then we did today,” Friesen remarked.
