Dan Kinvig,
Black Press
Slow starts couldn’t steal the momentum of the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team, as they stretched their program-record win streak to 10 with home-court victories over the Regina Cougars and Brandon Bobcats.
Both nights, it took the Cascades time to hit their stride – they trailed the lowly Cougars 38-37 at halftime on Friday, and were down 22-16 after the first quarter vs. Brandon on Saturday.
But in both cases, they heated up as the game wore on – they out-scored Regina 28-18 in the fourth quarter en route to an 84-71 win, and a 23-10 surge in the third quarter the next night yielded an 83-71 victory over Brandon.
“It shows that we’re able to fight and pull out games in the end, kind of raise our level when it’s absolutely needed,” UFV coach Adam Friesen noted. “But at the same point, right now we’re waiting for the moment when we need to bring defensive intensity. And that’s a trend we’ve got to stop, starting next weekend.”
The Cascades got a huge scoring night from Kevon Parchment on Friday – he lit up the Cougars for 36 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field.
On Saturday, UFV crushed the Bobcats in the rebounding department by a 47-24 count, with 6’7″ Jasper Moedt setting the tone with 23 points and 19 boards. Manny Dulay swished six triples to account for all 18 of his points.
The Cascades improved to 13-5, maintaining a comfortable two-game lead on Thompson Rivers for second place in the Pacific Division of Canada West.
“You’ve got to be proud of our guys for winning consistently and setting a school record,” Friesen said, reflecting on his team’s 10 straight wins.
“The challenge we have with this win streak is keeping motivated and playing at the highest level we know we can play at. Our challenge is more with us right now, than it is with our opponents.”
