Dan Kinvig, UFV Athletics
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – The third quarter was the difference as the Calgary Dinos earned a 69-59 win over the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in Canada West men's basketball action on Saturday evening.
One night after being on the wrong end of an 85-51 blowout, the Cascades turned in a much stronger performance against the reigning U SPORTS national champs. The hosts raced out to a 14-6 lead to open the game, and were within 35-29 at the half.
But the third quarter was all Dinos. The outscored UFV 20-6 in the frame, limiting the Cascades to 2-of-16 shooting from the field.
UFV made a fourth-quarter push, but Calgary hit timely shots to improve to 18-0 while dropping the Cascades to 11-7.
"Our movement was better on offence, but for the most part, we were much more solid on D," Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren said, reflecting on his team's third-quarter performance. "We did a much better job in the third quarter than we did the rest of the game. We gave up a bunch of three-balls in the fourth quarter and kind of lost ourselves when we got up a bit.
"But the game was a different story (than Friday's opener). They competed harder tonight, they battled a little more for every 50-50 ball, and that's usually the case the second night you play somebody. They have a very nice basketball team, and there's a lot of positives there with Fraser Valley's group."
The Cascades' opening salvo was highlighted by back-to-back-to-back three-pointers, with a pair of triples from Parm Bains bookending a Sukhman Sandhu long-distance call.
But the Dinos hung in thanks in large part to fifth-year guard Lucas Mannes. The Chilliwack, B.C. product scored all of his game-high 18 points in the first half, hitting four treys in the second quarter alone to help his team grab a 35-29 edge at the break.
"He held us in the game, and that says something about our depth," Vanhooren said. "It's a luxury to have that kind of depth, and to have a guy who comes off the bench who can put up 18 in a half. We played against Lucas when he was at Trinity, and he had 40 on us a few times. He can really get it going, and that was nice to see."
The visitors took control in the third, with point guard David Kapinga scoring eight straight Calgary points to push the lead to 53-35.
A poster-worthy dunk by Daniel Adediran over Dinos centre Brett Layton, followed by a steal-and-dunk from Vick Toor on the ensuing possession, fired up the home fans midway through the fourth quarter, but the Cascades were unable to get any closer than the final 10-point margin.
"I think we competed harder and smarter for much longer periods of the game," UFV head coach Adam Friesen said, analyzing his team's much-improved performance on Saturday. "Calgary's the highest-level team in Canada West by it looks like a pretty reasonable margin, and you can't practice against the athletes that they have. Sometimes it takes a game to understand the quickness and length that's on the court."
Kapinga, Mambi Diawara and Lars Schleuter, all with 10 points, joined Mannes as double-digit scorers for the Dinos, and Layton contributed 13 rebounds.
Parm Bains paced the Cascades with 14 points, Toor scored 10, and Sandhu had nine points off the bench. Mark Johnson posted double-digit rebounds for the second straight night, with 11.
The Cascades basketball teams wrap up the Canada West regular season with a home-and-home set with the Trinity Western Spartans, Friday at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre and Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. The Dinos, meanwhile, return home to host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.