ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – It was another impressive night from
Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Tex.), but the Spartans men's basketball team fell 107-95 on the road against Fraser Valley Saturday at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
Gilbreath had 32 points (Amarillo, Tex.) alongside seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. It was Gilbreath's fifth-straight 30-point game, as the most recent U SPORTS male athlete of the week has now scored at least 30 points in eight of the last nine games.
The Cascades (8-6) ran their win streak to five games, while the Spartans (2-12) have now lost six in a row in Canada West play.
Jack Nadelhoffer (Tigard, Ore.) had a season-high 13 rebounds alongside 22 points, while
Riley Braich (Abbotsford) added 21 points for the visitors.
Parm Bains (27 points, 5-of-13 from three) and Jaskarn Bajwa (24 points, 6-of-11 from three) led the way for the hosts, who shot an even 50 per cent from the field and 42.5 per cent (17-of-40) from beyond the arc.
The Cascades caught fire midway through the first quarter, reeling off a 19-3 run to seize control. Bajwa and Jordyn Sekhon ignited the surge with back-to-back triples, and Bains capped it with five straight UFV points.
The Spartans outscored the Cascades 17-7 over the first six minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 38-32, but UFV responded with a 14-0 outburst to close the half, highlighted by four triples including two from Bajwa.
TWU, after shooting just 26.7 per cent from the field in the first half, found more success offensively after halftime. They shot 54.8 per cent the rest of the way,but were unable to come up with enough stops to seriously dent the deficit.
The Cascades maintained a 20-plus-point cushion for most of the third and fourth quarters, before the Spartans ended on an 11-0 run over the last three minutes of regulation with the outcome already decided.
QUOTABLE
Trevor Pridie – TWU Head Coach
"We have a lot to work on defensively as team. Obviously, we play at a fast pace, so sometimes the points aren't always the best indicator of our defence. But the field goal percentage and points per possession (for UFV) were just way too high this weekend."
NOTABLE
- Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath is now on pace to finish top-10 in Canada West all-time points-per game in a single season, as he is currently averaging 27.0 per game.
- TWU falls to 13-16 all-time against Fraser Valley, after falling in both of its games last season (Feb. 1-2, 2019).
- It was the second time this season Spartans guard Riley Braich has surpassed the 20-point mark in a game.
NEXT UP
TWU returns home to take on Alberta next weekend (Jan. 24-25) at the Langley Events Centre.
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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