LANGLEY, B.C. – In a battle between local rivals, Fraser Valley bested Trinity Western 96-87 in the first of a home-and-home series Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. 

UFV was led by Sukhjot Bains, who had 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Parm Bains added 22 points. 

The Spartans Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) had 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead TWU. The TWU star now has registered 30 or more points in seven of his last eight games. It's also his fourth straight double-double. Jack Nadelhoffer (Tigard, Ore.) had 13 points and eight boards while Daniel Stead (Langley) had 12 points. 

UFV moves above .500 to 7-6, while TWU drops to 2-11 on the season.

The Cascades came out flying in the first quarter, shooting 52 per cent from the field and 60 per cent from beyond the arc to stake themselves to a 32-17 lead through 10 minutes. 

The second quarter saw TWU push back with Gilbreath putting up nine points in the quarter to close the gap to five points, 50-45, at the break. Both Parm Bains and Jaskam Bajwa, who finished with 15 points on the night, had 10 points through the first half for the visitors, while TWU's Gilbreath had a team-high 11 points. 

UFV turned it up coming out of halftime, outscoring the Spartans 28-20 to build a 13-point lead through 30 minutes. Bains put up another eight points in the quarter to help UFV seemingly take control of the contest.

The Spartans once again pushed back in the fourth quater, getting within seven points, 88-81, with 2:38 left in the quarter, but that was as close as TWU would get. 

After trailing by 15 points following the first quarter, TWU outscored the Cascades 70-64 over the final three quarters.

UFV shot 31.6 per cent from 3-point range (12-38), while TWU was 17.6 per cent (6-34). The Cascades had a 60-46 edge in rebounds. TWU had an 11-5 advantage in steals. 

QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie – TWU Head Coach
"Our slow start hurt us. We couldn't get in sync on offence or defence. I thought after that we got some good looks, but just couldn't make the timely shots that we needed. The quality of look was okay, but we just didn't make them.

"It was fun to coach against Adam. He's a good friend of mine. And I've coached a couple of his players in high school and at UFV, so it was cool to see them out here. I know it's going to be fun to play at UFV on Saturday. I've had this game on my calendar for a while and it was a good crowd tonight too."

Adam Friesen – UFV Head Coach
"Trevor's doing an amazing job with that team. They battle so hard and compete so hard for him. Their record may not look great, but they're battling a lot of good teams every week. They battled us hard, and that game could have gone either way.

"I think we kept them in the halfcourt more than in other games they've played, but there's not a lot of teams in the league that push the ball so consistently for 40 minutes. It's a unique challenge that they present to you. I've got to have us better prepared for that on Saturday."

NOTABLE
•    Spartans coach Trevor Pridie was coaching against UFV, where he was an assistant coach fro 2015 to 2017, for the first time since taking over head coaching duties at TWU this past fall. 
•    Riley Braich (Abbotsford, B.C.) was playing against his old team, having transferred from UFV to TWU this year. He finished with nine points, two steals and two rebounds.
•    TWU's Gilbreath was coming off earning TWU's first ever triple double last Thursday (33-10-10). Gilbreath before narrowly missing another triple double in last Saturday's rematch (34-10-8). 
•    TWU is 13-16 all-time against Fraser Valley.

NEXT UP
The Spartans and Cascades play the rematch Saturday in Abbotsford, B.C. at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. (PT).

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.

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