VANCOUVER - A late charge by the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team wasn't enough as it dropped a second consecutive game to the No. 8 Fraser Valley Cascades on Saturday, losing 94-83 in Abbotsford.
Up by eight points late in the first half, Fraser Valley went on an 11-0 run that bridged halftime to go up 54-35 early in the third quarter.
The Cascades continued to build on the lead in the third until the advantage was 26 points.
UBC closed the gap with a 13-1 run in the first half of the fourth quarter, capped off with a
Graham Bath (5th, Langley, BC) layup and free throw.
However, the deficit proved too large for the Thunderbirds to overcome before the final whistle.
Nathan Yu (5th, Prince George, BC) scored a game-high 27 points in a losing cause. UBC also got 13 points and six rebounds from
Kamar Burke (5th, Mississauga, ON).
Joel Friesen led the Cascades with 23 points. Sam Freeman added 19 and Blackman 16.
With the loss, UBC (12-4) falls one game behind Victoria (13-3) in the Canada West Pacific Division standings, and remain a half game ahead of Fraser Valley (12-5).
The Cascades have one game remaining this Thursday, at Trinity Western.
UBC and Victoria will face each other in a home-and-home series, with the first game on Feb. 10 at War Memorial Gymnasium in Vancouver.
Then the teams will face off again on Feb. 17 at Victoria's McKinnon Gymnasium.
The top two teams will host Canada West quarterfinal best-of-three series while the third place team will travel.
- with files from David Kent (UFV Sports Information Director)
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