Stu Walters / UBC Thunderbirds
VANCOUVER – The UFV Cascades were lethal from long range and used balanced scoring to hand the UBC Thunderbirds a surprising 92-79 home court loss in game one of their best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series Thursday at War Memorial Gym.
The Canada Wests sixth ranked Cascades hit a season high 17 three-pointers while watching their bench outscore the conferences third ranked T-Birds 48-17. UFV shot 41 percent from the field and an impressive 45 percent from three-point land.
Parm Bains led the way for UFV with 26 points and hit five of his 10 three-point attempts while Sukman Sandu recorded 21 points which included draining three clutch fourth-quarter triples to put the game out of reach. Sukhjot Bains registered 20 points while Mark Johnson added 17 points, including a game high in both treys with six and rebounds with 18 on the night for the visitors.
Grant Shephard registered a game high 29 points and added 12 rebounds for the T-Birds while Manroop Clair and Grant Audu each chipped in with 17 points in the loss.
"We came in with the belief that winning was possible," said UFV head coach Adam Friesen. "That's where it started, in the first quarter, we did what we tried to do every single game this season, and that's play defence and rebound. We don't expect to score in the nineties, and we don't have the expectation of scoring in the nineties tomorrow. If it happens, it happens. But we know we've got to play defence, board, and take care of the basketball. We'll look to improve on those areas, and take care of the offensive end as it goes."
The T-Birds got out to a quick start thanks to Shephard scoring his quarter high seven points all in a row to put the hosts ahead 7-2 but the Cascades answered back with a 9-0 scoring run to take a 11-7 lead. UFV's run was highlighted by Sukhjot Bains determined effort in the lane collecting three consecutive rebounds before connecting inside to pull within two points at 7-4 ahead of Bains hitting a three pointer minutes later to put the visitors ahead 9-7. Parm Bains would then step up to score a team high 6 points while Vick Toor added four to pull ahead 17-13 with under 4 seconds to play before Daniel Adediran took an inbounds pass and made a good move to the basket to beat the buzzer and enjoy a 19-13 advantage after the first frame. Other than Shephard's seven points the only other T-Bird to register points was Audu who was a spark off the bench hitting on two of his four three-point attempts to keep it close.
In the second quarter the already frantic pace seemed to increase with both teams matching each other on the score sheets in pouring in 19 points each. Clair got it started for UBC by hitting from distance to pull within 21-18 but Sukhjot Bains responded for UFV by hitting two straight from beyond the arc to extend the lead to 27-20. Parm Bains would then hit two straight shots to extend the visitors lead to 11 at 33-22 before Audu delivered his third three-pointer of the evening trailing 33-25. Next it was Mark Johnson dialing it up from long range to go up 36-25 before Cohee and Shephard scored consecutive baskets just ahead of the halftime buzzer to trail 38-32 at the break. Sukjot Bains and Parm Bains paced the cascades with eight points each in the period while Audu led the 'Bird with six points while Shephard added another five points.
The Cascades came out sharp shooting in the third quarter outscoring the T-Birds 28-19 thanks to an impressive 42 percent field goal percentage which included a sizzling 60 percent from three-point land in hitting 6 of their 10 attempts. Johnson led the way for UFV with nine points thanks to him hitting three of four from long range. Parm Bains was close behind with six points on two of three shooting from three-point land. Six-foot-ten forward Sukhman Sandhu showed his versatility for UFV en route to matching Johnson's quarter high nine points, highlighted by a big slam dunk inside to make it 48-40 and much later hitting his first of four, three-pointers the rest of the way to go in front by 15 points at 65-49. Shephard led the 'Birds with 10 points in the quarter while Clair added six points for the hosts who were down 66-51 after the third frame.
It's hard to believe but the Cascades were even more lethal from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter than they were in the third, this time hitting on five of seven attempts and a 71 percent clip. Sukhman Sandu and Mark Johnson hit two, three-pointers each while Parm Bains added his fifth of the contest. Following a 14-5 run by the T-Birds to open the period Clair was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer and hit all three resulting free-throws to pull the 'Birds within seven points at 69-62. Minutes later Audu stole the ball off an inbounds play under the Cascades basket and fed Shephard for an easy lay-up to close the deficit within three points at 71-69 but that's as close as UBC would get the rest of the way. The Cascades would pull away with three more daggers from distance in quick succession en route to pulling away for a 92-79 game one victory.
Friesen also commented on Sukhman Sandhu's massive three, fourth-quarter, three-pointers to seal the victory.
"I think Parm was the catalyst. His aggression and his belief in himself got other people open, and Sukhman capitalized on his opportunities, no doubt."
The teams meet again Friday night for game two where the T-Birds will look to keep their season alive and the Cascades are hoping to close out the series. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m.at War Memorial Gym.
PHOTO: Rich Lam / UBC Thunderbirds