Just one point meant the difference between gold and silver in men's basketball, as the University of the Fraser Valley came up short in the Canada West final.

The Cascades lost to the University of Alberta Golden Bears 72-71 at the buzzer in Saskatoon Saturday night.

"We are not happy with the silver medal this evening, as we really wanted to compete and earn the conference championship, but tonight was Alberta's night," said UFV coach Barnaby Craddock.

"They had a couple guys that elevated their games and nudged us at the end."

In a game that saw 14 ties and 14 lead changes, the Cascades had an opportunity to win as they had possession of the ball with nine seconds remaining, but missed the final shot of the game.

Tied after the first quarter at 21 each, the Cascades' defence went to work holding the Golden Bears to 12 second-quarter points and led by three at the break.

UFV continued to lead early in the third quarter by as many as six points before Alberta went on a run and led by two points at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter was as competitive as the rest of the game with Alberta taking the lead for good with less than one minute remaining.

The Cascades had one last opportunity to win the title but the shot fell short.

"Our defensive effort is keeping us in games right now, and I am happy with our effort at that end of the floor," said Craddock.

"Hopefully we can get rolling on the offensive end of the floor at nationals, and really finish off the season playing our best basketball. Both Mike James and Jasper Moedt had great games this evening, and were a big part of us having a chance to win at the end."

The Cascades spread out their offence with four players reaching double digits.

James led the way with 14 points, Abbotsford forward Moedt had 12, Jordan Blackman, 10 and Kyle Grewal finished with 13 points and a team high 10 rebounds.

Sporting a 16-7 regular and post season record, UFV has been nationally ranked all year in the CIS Top-10 poll, finishing the season at a school record fourth in the country.

The Cascades now head to the CIS Final-8 national championship tournament this weekend in Halifax, N.S.

JKonda-Witte@abbotsfordtimes.com