PREVIEW: Heat host second place Cascades

The (7-7) UBC Okanagan men's basketball team host the team directly above them in the standings as they play a two game series versus the (9-5) UFV Cascades on Friday night at 8 p.m. is the first game at UBC Okanagan and then again versus the Cascades on Saturday at 7 p.m. 

UBC OKANAGAN HEAT (11-10, 7-7 Canada West)
CIS National Ranking: //
CanWest Standings: 3rd - Explorer
Last week (Jan 22-23): 2-0 // (Fri W, 72-50), (Sat W, 78-64) at UNBC
Streak: Won 2
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 3-17
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: /
2014-15 Overall Record: 4-26
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: NA
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: NA

• SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• STATS
• STANDINGS

This week: The Heat will continue their season at home as the Fraser Valley Cascades will travel to Kelowna to play their weekend series on the UBC Okanagan hardwood.  The first game of the weekend series will take place on Friday (Feb. 5) with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m. The second game will follow on Saturday February 6th with a start time of 7 p.m.

Current Form: The UBC Okanagan men’s basketball team are coming off of a bye weekend following their weekend sweep in Prince George. With the two wins versus UNBC this bumps their record to (7-7) and has put them in third place in the Explorers division, with the top three teams qualifying for the postseason in the Explorer division. 

Key Players: Second year guard Aldrich Berrios is leading the team with an average of 16 points per game. From the field Berrios is shooting and effective 37.7 percent and shooting 24.4 from beyond the arch making him a vital component of the Heat’s offense. Senior, Mitch Goodwin is also putting up big numbers and finished the Saturday night game in Prince George with 25 points and shot and impressive (10-14) 71 percent.

Keys: The Heat will be looking to remain consistent in shooting after shooting the ball well in their UNBC series UBCO are now converting 40.7 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from the three. The Heat will be trying to keep up with a Cascade squad that are fourth in shooting from the field (43.4) and beyond the arch (35.7). UBC Okanagan will be looking to take advantage of their home court as their home shooting is averages 37.4% from the field.

Head to Head:  UFV Cascades currently lead the head to head 10-2, winning all the games in the previous season and the first two of this season in Fraser Valley. In Kelowna the Heat are (2-2) versus the Cascades. 

*Friday night is the fifth annual KidSport Games. KidSport Kelowna is partnering with UBC Okanagan Athletics to host ‘KidSport Night’ on February 5, 2016 at UBC Okanagan Heat men’s & women’s basketball games. Free admission will be given to school sports/club sports teams who wear their jerseys and all youth under the age of 12. For every three pointer made by the Heat $50 will be donated to  KidSport™.  KidSport™ Kelowna was launched in the 2002 and provides grants for local children 18 years and under to participate in a sports. So come out to cheer on the Heat and support KidSport!

Last February KidSport^TM earned $350 off the seven three-pointers potted by the Heat in their final game of the year. In previous years the Heat's men and women's team have raised: (2014, $500), (2013, $900), and (2012, $700) for the charity, for a grand total of $2450 over the past four years.

KidSport events during the varsity action at UBC Okanagan:

• Paper Airplane Throwing Contest @ Halftime during the women's basketball game.
  • Heat Athletics will host a “By Donation” Paper Airplane Throwing contest during the Women’s game.
• Free Throw Contest @ Halftime during the men's basketball game.
  • Heat Athletics will host a Free Throw Contest during Men’s game.

All proceeds from these half-time contests will be donated to KidSport Kelowna. There will also be many great prize giveaways throughout the entire night!

UBC Okanagan Athletics has donated 100 free entry tickets for KidSport Kelowna families to attend the games that night.

• Please email ticket requests to: Kelowna@kidsportcanada.ca

About KidSport™ BC:
KidSport™ was established in 1993 by Sport BC as a community based sport-funding program that provides grants to children ages 18 and under to participate in organized amateur sport. There are now 40 community chapters in BC and 175 chapters across Canada. KidSport™ works to fulfill its mission of eliminating the financial barriers to sport participation, ‘So ALL Kids Can Play!’

For more information contact:
Cheryl Browne, Chair | KidSport™ Kelowna Chapter.

FRASER VALLEY CASCADES (5-3, 14-8  Canada West)            
CIS National Ranking: //
CanWest Standings: 2nd-Explorer
Last week: 1-1 // (Fri W, 80-77), (Sat L, 74-54) at MacEwan
Streak: 1 Loss
2014-15 CW Regular Season Record: 17-3
2014-15 CW Playoff Record: 3-1
2014-15 Overall Record: 20-4
Last CW Title/Total CW Titles: /
Last CIS Title/Total CIS Titles: /

• SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• STATS
• STANDINGS

Current Form: The Cascades go into this game with a (9-5) record and stand second in the Explorer division. The Cascades are coming off of a split from MacEwan and have won three of their last six games.

Key Performer: Kevon Parchment is leading the Cascades in scoring averaging 17.4 points per game and is shooting 39.7 percent from the field. Point guard Manny Dulay is averaging 11.1 points per game and is shooting 39.7 from beyond the arc putting him 13th in that category.

Head Coach- Adam Friesen (4TH season)

preseason preview courtesy of Canadawest.org

Number of new players: 7 // Key Recruits (Name (POS/Hometown/Last Team)): Mark Johnson (F/Palm Springs, Calif./College of the Desert), Matt Cooley (F/Coquitlam, B.C./Kwantlen Polytechnic University), Brandon Burke (G/Toronto, Ont./Algonquin College)

Number of departing players: 4 // Key Losses (Name (POS/number of years with team)): Jasper Moedt (F/5), Kadeem Willis (F/2), Dominique Brooks (G/1)

Key performer: Kevon Parchment – The fifth-year guard from Scarborough, Ont., is coming off a 2014-15 campaign which saw him earn Canada West third team all-star honours. Parchment is a tenacious two-way force who paced the Cascades in scoring last season with 14.7 points per game, and his 6.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists both ranked second on the squad.

Coach Quote: “We’re a talented group. We have some guys being put in different roles, but I think we’re a deeper team than last year, and also more versatile,” Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said.

“I think our goals are the same as last year. It’s yet to be determined whether we can be better than last year’s team, but the opportunity is there in front of us to go after it.”

Key storyline: The Cascades are seeking a fifth straight trip to the Canada West Final Four, and to qualify for the CIS national championship for the first time since 2012.

Coming off a 2014-15 campaign which saw UFV finish first in the Pioneer Division at 17-3 and go on to win the Canada West bronze medal, head coach Adam Friesen has a nice mix of seasoned veterans and promising newcomers at his disposal.

Guards Kevon Parchment and Manny Dulay and power forward Nate Brown comprise a solid veteran core for Friesen to build around. Fifth-year shooting guard Parchment was a Canada West third team all-star last year and paced the Cascades in scoring with 14.7 points per game. Point guard Dulay was one of Canada West’s most prolific and efficient three-point shooters last season, hitting 38.9 per cent of his attempts from downtown, while Brown averaged 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in his first season as a Cascade.