The UFV Cascades men’s and women’s basketball teams thrilled the home crowd on Friday night with a pair of massive Canada West playoff wins, but for the men it wasn’t without its dramatics.
Former W.J. Mouat grad Jordyn Sekhon’s clutch three with 4.4 seconds remaining sent the game to overtime, and the Cascades outscored the Winnipeg Wesmen 16-8 in the extra frame to score the 92-84 win.
The final quarter saw UFV’s two fifth-year stars Parm Bains (injury) and Sukhjot Bains (fouled out) exit the game and Winnipeg surged ahead late only for Sekhon to hit the miracle shot.
“Kenan [Hadzovic] had the tip and missed, and the ball came out … I shot it and it felt good, and it went in,” Sekhon said. “It felt pretty good, not gonna lie.”
🀠MBB | @jsekhon23 FOR THREEEEEEEE!!! HE TIES THE GAME WITH 4.4 SECONDS LEFT AND WE'RE GOING TO OVERTIME! 🔥🔥🔥 #WeClimbWeConquer pic.twitter.com/EKFg4l6Mvi
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) February 15, 2020
“I’m not really quite sure at the moment,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said afterward, when asked how his team managed to pull it off. “Obviously a great basketball game. The battle we showed in the second half was a positive, no matter how the end of regulation played out. But Jordyn’s three-pointer gave us a second life, and Matt Cooley in particular really carried us in that overtime and got us that win in the end.”
Cascades guard Vick Toor scored a team-high 19 points, and added nine rebounds and four assists. Matt Cooley also had a strong game with 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.
The game really turned around for the Cascades in the third quarter, as they outscored Winnipeg 16-4.
The win advances the men to the Canada West quarter-finals, where they will take on the Calgary Dinos in the Alberta city on Friday with a tip-off of 5:30 p.m. local time.
The UFV women also took care of business on Friday, leading for most of the game en route big 76-54 win over the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack.
TRU shot just 33 per cent from the field, while the Cascades were accurate and shot at an impressive 50 per cent for the game.
Rookie star Deanna Tuchscherer led the Cascades with 20 points, while guard Amanda Thompson had a solid game with 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Rookie Maddy Gobeil added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.
🀠WBB | @nikki_cabuco FROM HALF COURT AT THE BUZZER!!🔥 🙀 💦#GoCascades pic.twitter.com/AJJGommEAK
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) February 15, 2020
“It wasn’t the cleanest game from us, for sure,” stated UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer. “Our turnovers were up, and I didn’t think our decision-making in the half-court was fantastic. It might have been nerves, but I don’t know. You’ve got to learn to play through that. Whenever Thompson Rivers did make a push, we responded, so that was a really good sign for us.”
The women now advance to a quarter-final/semifinal quadrant hosted by the Calgary Dinos next week. They’ll play the No. 4 seed Alberta Pandas (16-4) in the quarters, with the winner moving on to face the Calgary-UNBC winner in the semis.
