The University of the Fraser Valley basketball teams put themselves in prime playoff position by sweeping the UNBC Timberwolves on the road on the weekend.
The Cascades men ran their winning streak to 12 games, beating their Prince George-based foe 87-62 on Friday and 67-61 on Saturday.
The two games had vastly different textures – the opener was a massive blowout, as UFV raced out to a 48-28 lead at the half and cruised to victory behind 24 points from Kevon Parchment (including 5-for-5 shooting from downtown) and 22 points and 12 rebounds from Jasper Moedt.
The second game was much closer, as UNBC challenged the Cascades throughout and rallied to get to within two points with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
UFV hit its foul shots down the stretch, though, to grind out the win and improve to 15-5, thereby locking up second place in the Pacific Division of Canada West – and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Parchment and Moedt, with 17 points apiece, again paced the offence.
UFV WOMEN KEEP PACE
The Cascades women also swept, fending off an upset bid from the T-Wolves on Friday (79-63) before winning more comfortably on Saturday (88-51).
Sarah Wierks (19 points) and Courtney Bartel (17 points) led the way in the opener, and both players hauled in eight rebounds.
Aieisha Luyken, with 18 points and six boards, set the tone on Saturday, with Shayna Litman (10 points, nine rebounds) nearly notching a double-double in just 16 minutes off the bench.
The victories allowed the UFV women to keep pace with the UBC Thunderbirds atop the Pacific Division – both teams have 15-5 records, but the Cascades own the tiebreaker and can clinch the top seed with two wins over the Trinity Western Spartans this week.
CASCADES, SPARTANS CLASH ON FINAL WEEKEND
UFV and Trinity play a home-and-home series to wrap up the Canada West regular season, clashing in Langley on Friday and at UFV’s Envision Athletic Centre on Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.).
The match-up is particularly intriguing on the men’s side, as the Spartans (10-10) are trailing UBC (11-9) for the fourth and final Pacific Division playoff spot. The TWU women (5-15) are already out of the running for a post-season berth.
