LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans overcame a slow start to defeat the Fraser Valley Cascades 78-63 to end the first semester of Canada West conference play on a four-game winning streak, Friday night at the David E. Enarson Gym on the TWU campus in Langley, B.C. The win improves the Spartans to 4-5 in conference play, while the loss drops the Cascades to 3-6.
 
TWU trailed 8-0 to start before leading 40-30 at halftime, and 64-49 heading into the final quarter of play.
 
Fifth-year guard (Long Beach, Calf.) with 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists, second-year guard (Vancouver, B.C.) with 12 points and two rebounds, and fourth-year guard David Mutabazi (Delta, B.C.) with nine points, 13 rebounds, and three blocked shots led the Spartans. Ismael Hernandez with a double-double of 18 points, and 10 rebounds, Clay Kurtz with 17 points, and four rebounds, and Dario Lopez with 13 points, and five rebounds led the Cascades.
 
UP NEXT
Tonight's game was the Spartans' final game of the first semester. TWU's next match-up is January 10-11 when the Spartans will travel to Victoria, B.C. to take on the Victoria Vikes. Game times at the CARSA are set for 8 p.m. (PT) and 7 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.

QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Trevor Pridie
"We're playing well right now, I like what we're doing, but basketball aside, and winning aside, I like the crowd, the support, and the energy in the building was unreal today, it was awesome. I have a lot of memorable games here, and this is another one that goes in the memory of Enarson games. There's a UBC one, there's Q's first year with the McEwan sweep. and this one is just added to the memories of amazing Enarson games. So this is another one I'll always remember. It's always special to play here, so a really nice way to end the semester, being Enarson, and having a great crowd, is a good one." ?
 
"It's funny, I said to the guys before, it's sometimes me, sometimes you, but always us, and I thought that was us today. Jerric was one of seven today from three. He probably had one of his poorest shooting nights of the season. And David missed some good looks, but we had guys step up, which is huge. I thought Jack came in and put in a phenomenal game. ?Tyrone Asenoguan (Richmond, B.C.) had a really big first half. Caleb Gremaud (Kamloops, B.C.) was phenomenal. It wasn't Caleb's offense, but his energy, he just affected the game in so many ways, the blocks won't even show how good Caleb was tonight he didn't score a lot, but he was phenomenal. He was everywhere defensively; he brought so much energy. and I thought it was just such a big game from him. But we had so many guys play well for us, and it was a really good team win. It's a nice way to go into the break. We have a lot of things to work on, get Connor, back and keep building. ?We're looking forward to a big second semester and run and see what this team can do."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans had a slow start to the game as the Cascades jumped out to an 8-0 lead and were up 10-3 five minutes into the game. But TWU recovered and with a 12-4 run were able to take a 15-14 lead after the first quarter. Trinity Western dominated the start of the second quarter and outscored Fraser Valley to take a 10-point lead, 28-18 five minutes into the quarter. The Spartans maintained their lead as the quarter ran down to take a 10-point, 40-30, lead into the halftime break.
 
The Spartans and Cascades exchanged baskets to start the second half before TWU extended their lead to 15 points, 64-49, heading into the final 10 minutes of the contest. The Cascades cut the lead to nine points, 70-69, with three minutes remaining, but were unable to get any closer as the Spartans finished the semester with a 15-point win.
 
NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the game shooting 40 percent (28-70) from the field, 40.0 percent (10-25) from the three-point line, and 80 percent (12-15) from the free-throw line. While the Cascades shot 33.3 percent (25-75) from the field, 22.2 percent (6-27) from the three-point line, and 43.8 percent (7-16) from the free-throw line.
• Both teams finished with 48 rebounds.
• TWU had 14 turnovers to UFV's 13, with the Spartans having nine steals to the Cascades five.
• The Spartans also had a 9-6 edge in blocked shots.
• The Spartans had a five-game winning streak during the 2022-23 season.
• Last weekend at home the Spartans swept the Thompson Rivers WolfPack winning 84-63 and 70-67 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Last weekend at home the Cascades were swept by the Victoria Vikes losing 98-77, and 100-75 at home at the UFV Athletic Centre in Abbotsford, B.C.
• TWU is currently 18-25 lifetime against the Cascades.
• Last season, TWU split the two games against UFV, winning 77-76 and losing 93-67 in Abbotsford.
• The Spartans have won four of the last five games against the Cascades.

 
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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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