ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – After posting Trinity Western's first official triple-double in program history, Mason Bourcier (Kelowna, B.C.) did it again on Saturday as the Spartans fell to the UFV Cascades 102-88.
 
The Spartans (3-8) faltered in the middle portion of the game, conceding to the Cascades (5-4) who spread the wealth throughout their lineup.
 
Bourcier headlined TWU's night once again, dropping 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in another outstanding performance. Although the bulk of TWU's night was defined by a shooting slump, Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Texas) managed to score a game-high of 25 points. Tre Fillmore (Amarillo, Texas) found his footing in the second half, joining Gilbreath and Bourcier in double-digit scoring figures with 12 points.
 
UFV's night was characterized by an outstanding shooting performance throughout the lineup. With all five starters scoring 11 or more points, UFV cruised to their fifth victory of the 2021-22 season.

AS IT HAPPENED 
The Spartans were thrown out of sync early by the Cascades. Mason Bourcier continued his strong weekend of play, orchestrating play for TWU, who struggled to find answers against UFV's slower-paced offence. UFV's Aidan Wilson made life difficult for the Spartans on the block, leading the Cascades in scoring with seven points. Ja'Qualyn led the Spartans in scoring in the first quarter, going 3-5 from the field for a total of nine points. The Cascades led after the first 10 minutes of play (26-20).

The Cascades set the tone in the second quarter as Jordyn Sekhon hit three consecutive 3-pointers to give UFV a 58-38 lead by the end of the half. The Spartans caught a cold hand in the quarter, conceding a big lead by being unable to keep up with the hot Cascades. Sekhon went 4-4 from 3-point range to post a game-high of 14 points through the first half. Bourcier didn't trail far behind, posting 13 points while chipping in with five assists and six rebounds.

TWU's shooting woes continued throughout the first four minutes of the quarter. The Spartans were only 3-19 from 3-point land halfway through the quarter while the Cascades were 8-17. UFV's healthy lead was fiddled with throughout the third, but the Spartans finally surged on an 8-0 run to cut the UFV lead to 12. Dan Lybbert (Scottsdale, Arizona) hit two big 3-pointers on TWU's run, generating TWU's first sliver of momentum since the first quarter. The third quarter ended with UFV in front, 77-63.
 
The Spartans came to play in the fourth quarter. Tre Fillmore (Amarillo, Texas) started to shake off a rare cold shooting night for himself while Bourcier created for the Spartans. With the Cascades leading by five with as many minutes remaining, TWU continued to press into the opportunities UFV gave them. Although the Spartans seemed to be surging, Cascades guard Dylan Kinley had other ideas for TWU's fate, scoring nine points in the quarter to put the game on ice.

 
NOTABLE 
•    Bourcier has been floating around TWU's single-game assist record for the past three matches. The current record is 13.
•    All in all, it was an off-night for the Spartans. TWU couldn't dial it in from three, shooting 29.7 percent from distance. The Cascades shot 42.3 percent from 3-point range.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Trevor Pridie
"They came out on a hot shooting night and we struggled to match that. The second quarter cost us the game, we had some decent looks but we just missed them. UFV played well, but we dug ourselves into a 20-point deficit at the half. It takes a lot of energy to fight back and get close like we did, but they just had to hit a couple shots to deflate us. I'm proud of the guys for fighting back, we hit shots, and we had some really big stops down the stretch.

"We had a lot of positives over these first five games of the semester. We need to get back to work this week and pick at a couple things we need to get better at. We have a big home weekend coming up."

NEXT UP
TWU will host UBC Okanagan (1-8) at home next weekend. Jan. 29^th's match will be played on campus in the David E. Enarson gym.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

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