By Mark Janzen, Trinity Western University

LANGLEY, B.C. – Fraser Valley's Mark Johnson put up 30 points to lead the visiting Cascades to a 104-80 win over Trinity Western Thursday at the Langley Events Centre.

Johnson had 17 first-half points to pace the Cascades (5-8) to a 14-point lead at the break and from there, UFV rolled to a convincing win to open the winter semester. Hitting 19 shots from beyond the arc, the Cascades hot shooting kept the Spartans under pressure from start to finish as the visitors finished with a 47.5 shooting percentage from 3-point range.

Going 55 per cent from the field in the first quarter, UFV put an early stamp on the game and never relented. TWU (0-11) was unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the night.

UFV finished the night shooting 47.5 (38-80) from the field, while holding TWU to 36.7 per cent (29-79) shooting.

After Johnson, it was UFV's Andrew Morris putting up 23 points, including 17 in the second half.

TWU's Max Viitala (Melbourne, Australia) had a team-high 16 points.

Already with a five-point edge, a late 8-0 run in the first quarter pushed UFV's lead to 12 points. A Josiah Allison (Chilliwack, B.C.) jumper made it a 27-17 contest through 10 minutes.

UFV's hot-shooting cooled in the second quarter, going just 42.9 per cent, but the visitors still managed to put up another 25 points to build a 52-38 lead at halftime. Johnson had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half, while Viitala was TWU's leading scorer with nine first-half points.

The Cascades maintained a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter before extending their advantage to 17 points late with a 5-0 run in the final minute. Johnson tallied another seven points, while Pogos Trunyan (Sacramento, Calif.) collected eight points to lead TWU in its highest scoring quarter of the game.

The fourth quarter was more of the same, with UFV scoring 27 points while hitting seven from three-point range.

NOTABLE
• Last year, the teams split their home-and-home series, with TWU winning 90-82 in overtime in Abbotsford, B.C. before the Cascades earned a 93-79 win back in Langley.
• The win snaps UFV's two-game losing streak.

NEXT UP
The Spartans and Cascades will meet again Friday in Abbotsford in the back half of their home and home series. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. (PT).

-TW-