The University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team split a pair of weekend games against Calgary and Lethbridge.
The Cascades took on the U of Calgary Dinos Friday night at the Envision Athletic Centre in Abbotsford, taking a 75-65 decision.
UFV fell behind 34-29 at halftime, the first time all season they've trailed at the break. But tremendous defence held the Dinos to 31 second half points while the Cascade offence exploded for 45.
“I thought we played some solid defense right from the opening tip. Calgary had to work for their points and Boris (Bakovic) and Tyler (Fidler) hit some tough shots,” said Cascades bench boss Barnaby Craddock. “But on the offensive end we just were not playing our game, and we weren't aggressive enough. Joel (Friesen) and Mike (James) had outstanding second halves and were a major key in getting our offense back and putting us ahead.”
Friesen led UFV with 23 points. Coquitlam's Sam Freeman added 13 with James (Winnipeg) and Kyle Grewal (Surrey) chipping in eight points apiece. Grewal added eight rebounds.
The Cascades suffered their first home loss of the season Saturday night, falling 87-78 to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The visitors shot over 50 per cent from the floor and carried a five point (37-32) lead into halftime. The Pronghorns led by six through three quarters and maintained that lead through a chippy fourth quarter that included several technical fouls.
Freeman led UFV with 23 points. Abbotsford's Jasper Moedt added 20 plus a team-high six rebounds. Friesen was the only other Cascade hitting double digits in points, draining 15.
UFV's Canada West record fell to 6-4 with the loss, while Lethbridge improved to 5-5.
For more on this game's volatile fourth quarter, see Dan Kinvig's story (Cascades get 'minimal respect' from officials) in the sports section at www.theprogress.com.