Cascades Men’s Basketball baffle Bison in nail-biter victory
The UFV Cascades men’s basketball team (7-5) powered to a pair of road wins last weekend in Winnipeg, while the women’s team split a tight series following an overtime loss Friday.
The Cascade men were pushed to the edge by the Manitoba Bisons (1-11) Saturday night, but still managed to squeak out the road win 84-83. UFV has now won four consecutive conference games, while the Bisons, with back-to-back one-point losses, have dropped 10 straight.
Cascade forward Jasper Moedt had a monstrous game with 23 points and 16 rebounds, narrowly edging out Kevon Parchment (22 points, 9 rebounds) from his usual position as Cascades scoring leader. Just as on Friday, only seven Cascades saw the floor during the game.
“The Bisons gave us a great test tonight and I feel very fortunate to walk away with the win,” said Cascades coach Adam Friesen. “As a team we showed great character and competitiveness throughout the weekend, and that is something we will continue to build on.”
On Friday the Cascades extended their winning streak with a 69-54 road win over the Winnipeg Wesmen (6-5) 69-54 after taking the lead in the fourth minute of the first quarter and never looking back, forcing Winnipeg to play catch-up all night long.
Cascades Women’s basketball split in Manitoba
The UFV women’s basketball team (8-4) put some bounce back in their step Saturday with an 85-68 road win over the Manitoba Bisons (3-9) following Friday’s tight 77-74 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Wesmen.
Saturday’s victory maintains the Cascades’ position at the top of the Pacific division of the Canada West, and extends the Bisons’ losing streak to eight games. UFV has now split both of their last two regular season weekends, and lead the division by only two points (a single win).
Jumping ahead in the third minute, the Cascades never relinquished the lead Saturday and were outscored by Manitoba in only a single quarter (the third). UFV also significantly improved on Friday night’s shooting percentages, finishing 31-60 from field goal range, including 8-18 from beyond the arc. Eight Cascades played more than 10 minutes in a win that demonstrated the depth and ability of this UFV squad.
Kayli Sartori scored 18 points on the night, including three three-pointers in the first half alone. In addition, Nicole Wierks chipped in with 12 points, and Kaitlyn Brink with 10. The Bisons were led by Robin Eyer with 19 points and an incredible 5-7 performance from three-point land.
“A more focused effort tonight from everyone,” said Cascade coach Al Tuchscherer. “Offensively we really did some nice things in the first half and it was important for us to get back in the win column.”
Despite leading for all but fifteen seconds of regular time, the UFV Cascades dropped a disappointing road game, 77-74, to the Winnipeg Wesmen Friday. After accumulating a 53-35 lead late in the third quarter, the Cascades suffered a difficult shooting patch in the fourth as the Wesmen chipped away at the deficit. Winnipeg would eventually win the five minute overtime period 15-12 to hand the Cascades their fourth loss of the season.
The Cascades play again on Jan 17 and 18 against the TRU Wolfpack in Kamloops.