The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s basketball team defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears, 80-69, at the Envision Athletic Centre on Friday.
UFV got off to a red-hot start and never lost it, leading by seven points after the first quarter.
The Cascades played excellent defense all night, holding the Golden Bears to 26 first half points, and only nine second quarter points as they led by nine points at the break.
UFV continued to play great defense in the third quarter as the Golden Bears only hit the 40 point mark on the final play of the quarter.
UFV had built up an 18 point advantage after the quarter and early in the fourth led by as many as 22 points before Alberta cut into the large lead. The Golden Bears never got any closer than nine points.
The Cascades were led by Coquitlam native Sam Freeman, who turned in a game high 26 point performance.
Abbotsford’s Joel Friesen added 23 points and three other Cascades scored seven points each in the victory.
James Elliott (Perth, Western Australia) led all Cascades with eight total rebounds as UFV registered 40 for the game.
“We have a few guys on our team that can really shoot the ball, and we needed it tonight. Ferguson and Baker are tough checks, and Alberta is a well coached team, and we will need to continue to have our best players step up to the challenge,” said UFV head coach Barnaby Craddock. “Sam shot the ball extremely well tonight, and did a good job at the defensive end. Joel managed to make some spectacular plays despite being under the weather.”
UFV earned an important two points as they chase one of the two final playoff spots in Canada West, but an 84-70 loss in the Saturday night rematch tempered their enthusiasm somewhat.
The Cascades host the University of Regina Jan. 28-29 in Abbotsford.
