Kevon Parchment’s last-minute heroics lifted the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team to a 73-70 exhibition win over the Trinity Western Spartans on Thursday.
Playing at Surrey’s Semiahmoo Secondary, the Cascades fell behind by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but clawed their way back into it and built a seven-point advantage early in the fourth. The Spartans, though, staged a mini-rally of their own and took a 70-68 lead into the final minute of regulation.
But Parchment took over at that point. First, he drew a foul and drained two free throws to knot the score with 30 seconds remaining. Then, he stole the ball from TWU’s Nicholas Tancon at the defensive end and pushed the ball up the court, finishing with a layup plus the foul. He hit the ensuing free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play.
The Spartans’ Vartan Tanielian and Justin Bakuteka launched potential game-tying three-pointers in the dying seconds, but both missed.
“Kevon does what Kevon does – we’re getting used to him doing big things for us,” Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said. “As a group, we’ve got a ways to go. But we showed flashes of the team we’re hoping to become later in the season.”
Parchment finished with a game-high 27 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Forward Nate Brown registered 15 points and nine boards, and Kadeem Willis chipped in with 10 points off the bench.
Bakuteka paced the Spartans with 20 points, while Taylor Heinrichs notched 11 points.
It was the Cascades’ first game against a CIS opponent this season.
The UFV basketball teams host their annual preseason tournament next week at the Envision Athletic Centre, and the men play the Windsor Lancers on Thursday, Oct. 16 (7 p.m.), and Trinity Western on Friday, Oct. 17 (7 p.m. in the North Gym).
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