VANCOUVER – The Fraser Valley Cascades toppled the top-ranked and previously unbeaten UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday, using a constant barrage of three-pointers to down the 'Birds 89-77 at War Memorial Gym.
BOX SCORE
UBC falls into a tie for first in the Pacific Division with Victoria at 5-1 with the loss, while the Cascades move up to 3-3.
The T-Birds entered the fourth quarter trailing by four, but a quick scoring surge out of the break had them up 60-59 just two minutes in. The Cascades got back in front quickly on a Nathan Kendall three, and things really became dire for UBC when Sam Freeman was good on a three pointer launched from the parking lot to make it 70-64 with five minutes remaining.
A surprising response three from UBC big man
David Wagner and two points from
Tommy Nixon got the T-Birds to within one point of the lead again, but they couldn't stop the flow of three-balls from the Cascade shooters.
Kevon Parchment hit one to make it a 73-69 game, and after a UBC free throw Kendall got an uncontested basket right under the hoop for a five-point lead. That led to point guard James York's dagger three-pointer with two minutes left to make it an eight point game.
From there it was just a matter of hitting their foul shots for the Cascades to complete the comeback.
Freeman led the way with 20 points for Fraser Valley. Parchment, York and Kendall each had 15 points. Kendall also had a game-high nine rebounds.
Fraser Valley shot 46 per cent from three, with 35 of their 56 total shot attempts coming from behind the arc.
UBC also relied heavily on perimeter scoring, hoisting up almost half their shots from three, but connecting on only 29 per cent.
Tommy Nixon led UBC with 15 points and four steals.
Doug Plumb added 14 and seven rebounds.
Geoff Pippus,
Brylle Kamen and Wagner all scored in double digits as well.
The UBC offence came out on fire, outscoring the Cascades 27-23 in the first quarter, but that quarter ended up accounting for more than a third of their made field goals in the game. They also had just two turnovers in that quarter, but coughed up nine in the second and finished with 18 for the game.
The T-Birds are on the road next week to take on Alberta and ninth-ranked Saskatchewan, while the Cascades return home to host Manitoba and Winnipeg.
The next home action for UBC is November 30 against Calgary.
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