ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia – The Trinity Western men's basketball team found itself down by nine points after the first quarter and never recovered as the Spartans lost 80-61 against Fraser Valley Friday.

Despite the Spartans shooting 41.4 per cent from the field and 43.5 per cent from 3-point range, TWU was unable to contain the Cascades and lost for the fifth time in six preseason outings against CIS competition.

"It was a strong effort for the guys but the score didn't reflect that," said Spartan coach Scott Allen. "We did a lot of great things today and our shooting percentage definitely improved and we kept our turnovers down. We were up against a hot-shooting team today and we didn't respond well. But it was definitely a step forward."

The Spartans, who had 16 turnovers to UFV's 15, were down 45-29 at halftime, but closed the gap to 11 points, at 69-49, going to the fourth quarter. However, in the final frame, UFV outscored the Spartans 20-12 en route to a 19-point win.

TWU was led by Justin Bakuteka (Toronto), who had 13 points, Nick Tancon (Nanaimo, B.C.), who had 12 points and was five for five from the field, and Tyus Allen (White Rock, B.C.), who had 11 points.

The Cascades Manjodh Dulay had a game-high 20 points while Nate Brown added 18 points. Kadeem Willis had a game-high eight rebounds.

TWU had 13 players play at least seven minutes while UFV rode seven players largely throughout and only put nine players on the floor.

The Spartans are back on the court Oct. 25-26 when they finish their preseason schedule with road games against Thompson Rivers Friday and UBC Okanagan Saturday.

-TW-