The UFV Cascades began their exhibition season this week, with a decisive loss to a tough NCAA school.
It was a humbling experience, getting beaten 105-50 by the University of Texas (Arlington) Mavericks on Monday night at the Envision Athletic Centre, but Cascades forward Jasper Moedt was upbeat.
“It’s nice to be back, and I’m happy with what we did last night,” said Moedt.
He expected a tough game, given that the Mavericks had blown out the second-ranked UBC Thunderbirds 108-60 and Trinity Western 115-71 in earlier matches.
The Texans didn’t disappoint, coming out determined to dominate the Cascades.
Moedt said his teammates stuck together, and focussed on playing hard defence. He predicts this year’s edition of the Cascades will be one of the best the school has seen.
“We were supportive and positive. We showed character.”
Moedt was a leader on the court, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Freeman added 10 points and had three steals.
The leader for Texas was LaMarcus Reed with a 20-point performance.
The Mavericks were just much bigger, more athletic, and a rich vein of talent ran through their entire lineup.
“They always had three inches on me,” Moedt said. “The depth they had – they had 10 guys running the whole time.”
Texas-Arlington jumped out to an early double digit lead and led by 11 points after the first quarter. The Cascades scored 25 points in the second quarter, but found themselves down by 18 at the intermission. The second half saw Texas-Arlington play great defence, and hold UFV to 15 total points on route to their 55 point victory over the Cascades.
The contest was the first of three pre-season exhibition games against NCAA opponents. Friday night the Cascades host Whitman College at 7 p.m., and on Sept. 9 they face Santa Clara (7 p.m.)
n Cascades head coach Barnaby Craddock missed the game, as he was one of the assistant coaches on the CIS men’s basketball team that earned a silver medal at the FISU World University Games in Shenzhen, China.
On Monday night they lost 68-55 to a team from Serbia that returned as champions.
Assistant coach Adam Friesen has been running the Cascades in Craddock’s absence.
“He’s doing a great job,” Moedt enthused.