LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western men's basketball team lost to local rival Fraser Valley in preseason action, as the Cascades earned a 90-81 win Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
The Cascades raced out to a 10-point lead after 10 minutes and never trailed. With four Cascades earning double-digit points, the visitors built a 22-point lead going into the fourth quarter and then held on for a nine-point win.
The Spartans came to life late in the final frame, closing the gap to seven points, 88-81, inside the final minute, but time simply ran out on TWU's rally.
TWU was led by the three-pronged attack of Kelvin Smith (Los Angeles), Dean Richey (Spokane, Wash.) and Lucas Mannes (Chilliwack, B.C.), who each had double-doubles. Smith had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Richey tallied 19 points and 13 boards and Mannes and 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"There were a lot of positives to take from tonight," said Spartans coach Aaron Muhic, who was coaching in his first game against a CIS opponent. "We didn't play great offensively for 40 minutes, but I really felt Matt Blackaby (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Lucas came to compete and left it all out there on the floor. It's something we can build on for sure.
"I'm very happy our guys didn't fold. They could have just given up, but that's a testament to them and wanting to be a team and wanting to compete."
The Cascades were led by Vijay Dhillon, who had 19 points, while Mark Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Nate Brown added 18 points and eight boards. Manny Dulay was the other UFV player in double digits, with 15 points to go with seven boards.
UFV shot 41.7 per cent from the field and was nine for 27 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, TWU shot 37.3 per cent from the field and was just two for 17 from beyond the arc. TWU also struggled from the free throw line, shooting 23 for 45 while UFV was 21 for 25.
With the Spartans shooting just 23.5 per cent in the first quarter, the Cascades raced out to a 20-10 lead after 10 minutes, thanks in large part to 10 points from Johnson.
In the second quarter, the Spartans were two from three from beyond the arc and held UFV to just 14 points to send the teams into the break with the home side trailing by 12 points, 34-22.
TWU's Smith had eight first-half points while Johnson led the Cascades with 14 points and seven rebounds at halftime.
Shooting four for seven from 3-point range in the third quarter, UFV outscored the Spartans 33-23 and took a 67-45 lead to the final quarter.
TWU turned the tables on UFV in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cascades 36-23. Mannes had 14 of his 15 points in the final frame to help close the gap late in the contest. However, the Spartans had dug themselves too deep of a hole to fully recover.
"You can tell by watching us that we're a work in progress at times," Muhic said. "But these guys really love each other and they have a lot of integrity from top to bottom and that's what we're going to be about. I know we all want to come out on the right side of the scoreboard, but we have to do things consistently and that's what we need to improve on."
The Spartans and Cascades will play a rematch Saturday at 6 p.m. in UFV.
Game Notes: Last year, the Spartans played UFV twice in preseason action, losing 73-70 and 80-61…the teams will not meet in the regular season for the second straight year, with TWU playing in the Pioneers Division and the Cascades competing in the Explorers Division…TWU was playing without injured forward Jesse Jeffers (North Vancouver, B.C.).
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