The Rice University Owls dumped the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, 88-62, in a men’s basketball friendly Wednesday night in Abbotsford.
The game was played at the Envision Athletic Centre, pitting the CIS Cascades against an NCAA team that plays in Conference USA, a collection of 15 southern and midwestern schools.
Three hundred fans watched UFV get off to a strong start, going toe-to-toe with the Owls.
Jasper Moedt, back after a year off, hit two quick three pointers to put his team up by 7-5. But Rice shot 62 per cent to hold a four point lead after one quarter.
The Owls kept the hot hand in the second quarter, and upped the defence, taking a 52-31 lead into halftime.
Defence dominated the second half.
Rice had eight players on the bench, and subbed them in constantly, keeping the legs fresh.
Playing with a short-bench, the Cascades wilted in the fourth quarter.
As UFV tired out, the Owls pulled away.
“We played hard tonight and gave Rice a good game,” said UFV Cascades head coach Adam Friesen. “I was pleased with our effort and look forward to having the full complement of players out there for our next game.”
Moedt led all Cascades with a 20 point performance, pulling down seven offensive and defensive rebounds.
Calgary’s Klaus Figueredo added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Toronto native Kadem Wills added 11 points in his first CIS action.
UFV shot 33 percent for the game and Rice 47 percent.
Keith Washington led Rice with a game high 23 points. California native Max Guercy chipped in with 13 points and Oregon’s Seth Gearhart hit for 12.
Three different Owls pulled down five rebounds as Rice outboarded UFV 43-37.
The Owls are now 2-0 on their three game tour of British Columbia. They face the Capilano University Blues (PACWEST-CCAA) on Saturday before returning to Houston, Texas.
This was the Cascades first preseason game of the 2013-14 season.
The Cascades open the regular season Nov. 1 and 2 when they face Lethbridge and Calgary.
