UFV’s Mark Johnson slashes to the hoop against the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday. (Rich Lam/UBC Athletics photos)
For the second straight night, a big second-quarter push powered the UBC Thunderbirds to victory over the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team at War Memorial Gym.
On Friday, the host T-Birds had fashioned a 28-5 run in the second stanza to seize control en route to a 111-78 win over the Cascades. In Saturday’s rematch, UBC outscored UFV 28-10 in the second, and went on to prevail 105-64.
The T-Birds shot 50 percent from the field and got 57 of their points from their bench, while the Cascades shot a reasonable 41.4 per cent but lost the rebounding battle 46-30.
“The game was very similar to yesterday,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said. “Our consistency of play isn’t there, and right now we just can’t stop a run very well. Once we start struggling, we’re not able to get ourselves out of the hole.”
The Cascades basketball teams are back at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre this coming weekend for their regular-season home openers, Nov. 3-4 vs. the Mount Royal Cougars.
Cascades sophomore centre Sukhman Sandhu (left) contests a shot.
On Saturday, the Cascades stuck with the T-Birds until late in the first quarter, when UBC went on a 7-2 run to take a 24-16 lead. UBC opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run, and put together a 12-0 surge later in the frame to take control.
Mark Johnson was a bright spot for the Cascades – the fourth-year forward from Palm Springs, Calif. accrued his team-high 17 points in efficient fashion, shooting 5-of-10 from the field, 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-5 from the foul line.
“It was great to see him play well,” Friesen said of Johnson. “He showed a lot of leadership, and really came ready to play and give his best effort.”
Sukhman Sandhu registered 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 23 minutes off the bench, and fellow sophomore Riley Braich posted 10 points and five boards for the Cascades.
UBC’s Grant Shephard registered 18 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Taylor Browne and Grant Audu each chipped in with 14 points.
– with files from Jeff Sargeant, UBC Athletics
Comments are closed.