CIS men's basketball Saturday roundup: No. 7 Hawks hold on to knock off No. 3 Lakehead

HAMILTON, Ont. - The McMaster Marauders overcame an 17-point half time deficit, but the Windsor Lancers where able to hang on for a 78-74 victory at the Burridge Gym on Saturday afternoon.
 
Adam Presutti scored a game high 20 points on six of seven shooting from three point range to lead the Marauders. He was named the McMaster Big Mac Player of the Game.
 
McMaster opened the contest with a 7-0 run, but Windsor would respond with a run of their own to take a 10-8 lead in the first quarter. Presutti caught fire in the early going scoring eight of his twenty points. Despite Presutti's hot start Windsor would still pull ahead 23-16 at the end of the first.
 
In the second quarter, Windsor's Enrico Diloreto got hot from three point land to put them ahead 33-17 . Cam Michaud hit a three to cut the Windsor lead to 10 at 33-23, but Windsor would respond to go up by fifteen, 38-23. Diloreto hit his fourth three pointer of the half to give Windsor a 41-23 lead and they built it to 48-31 at the break. Diloreto finished with 17 points, most of them coming in the first half, to lead the Lancers in scoring.
 
Windsor kept up the pace to start the third quarter when a Rotimi Osuntola Jr. slam put them ahead 50-35. That is when the Marauders started to comeback. A jumper from rookie Aaron Redpath started a mini run that cut the lead to 10 at 52-42. Redpath added a three, to cut the lead to single digits, 54-45, for the first time since midway through the first half.
 
The fourth quarter started off slow with neither team making a basket until Victor Raso scored his first points of the game to cut the Windsor lead to nine with 7:16 remaining . That sparked another Marauder comeback. Raso then made three free throw attempts after being fouled from beyond the arc to cut the Windsor lead to six.
 
Jahmal McQueen answered with a three of his own. A bucket and free throw from Lien Phillip built the Lancer lead back to 12 with just under six minutes remaining in the game. Phillip had a double double on the afternoon scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
 
That didn't stop the Marauders as a nice drive to the hoop by Redpath and a three by Raso cut the lead again to nine. Redpath would add another three from way beyond the arc to make it 76-68 in favour Windsor. Raso added a pair of free throws to make it a six point deficit and Redpath hit another timely three to cut the deficit to three forcing Windsor to call timeout.
 
On the ensuing possession Redpath would steal the ball and be fouled. He made the first of his two free throws to make it 76-74 Windsor, but that is where the comeback would end. Osuntola Jr made a pair of free throws in the remaining time to secure the win for the Lancers.
 
Despite the slow start Raso finished with a double double, 12 points and 11 rebound. Redpath scored 16.
 
With the win the Lancers sweep the season series with the Marauders and improved to 9-3 on the season tying the Marauders in the OUA West standings.

Source: McMaster Sports Info

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's basketball team (7-5 OUA) was beaten 101-93 by the University of Western Ontario Mustangs (4-8 OUA) Saturday afternoon at the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
 
The Badgers led 13-11 early in the game but the Mustangs pulled away to lead 51-42 at halftime.
 
In the second half, the Badgers narrowed the deficit to 74-73, but the Mustangs used a 17-1 run to pull away for good.
 
Badgers forward Tshing Kasamba (St. Catharines, Ont.) had a team-high 19 points. Jameson Tipping (Orangeville, Ont.) stroked 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Didi Mukendi (St. Catharines, Ont.) added 16 while both Andrew Kraus (Markham, Ont.) and Andrew Ferguson (St. Catharines, Ont.) had nine points..
 
OUA leading-scorer Ryan Barbeau (Belleville, Ont.) and Quin Henderson (Dundas, Ont.) paced the Mustangs with 21 apiece. Henderson also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. The Badgers shot 30-for-67 (44.8 %) from the floor, which included 8-for-31 (25.8%) shooting from the three-point arc. The Mustangs went 32-for-54 (59.9%%) from the floor and 10-for-23 (43.5%) from three-point land.
 
The Badgers lost the rebound battle 33-26, but won the turnover battle with 15 compared to 20 by the Mustangs.
 
For the second straight game the Badgers scored over 90 points but suffered a loss by allowing over 100 points.
 
The Badgers will travel to Waterloo on January 18 to play the University of Waterloo Warriors at 8 p.m.

Source: Brock Sports Info

GUELPH, Ont. - Entering the fourth quarter, it looked as though the Warrior’s offence was finally poised to explode after chipping away the Guelph lead. Instead it was Kareem Malcolm offence and the Gryphon defence that took control of the game,  with an 82-63 victory.
 
With the win, Guelph improves to 7-5, while Waterloo falls to 4-8 on the season.
 
Malcolm led all scorers with 24 points, going 6-7 from the field in the fourth quarter. Zachary Angus added 16 points before an ugly incident as time expired saw him fall to the ground with a bloody eye injury. Daniel McCarthy added 11 points to go with nine rebounds while fighting foul trouble.
 
Wayne Bridge led Waterloo with 20 points on 6-9 shooting, while Cam McIntyre added 15 points. Mike Wright netted 10 points, but gave up seven turnovers.
 
Both teams started off a highly physical matchup trading baskets before Angus scored six straight points to take the lead. George Mason hit one of his three 3-pointers at the buzzer to give the Gryphon’s a 19-10 lead after one.

Waterloo turned up the defensive pressure in the second, and utilized some strong shooting from deep to cut the Guelph lead to 33-27 entering the half. Malcolm led all scorers with 10 points, with Angus and McCarthy each adding eight. Wright, Bridge, and McIntyre each had eight for the Warriors.
 
 The third quarter saw Waterloo’s Bridge take control of the game, going off for 12 points in the third to cut the Guelph lead to just one entering the fourth quarter. McIntyre added seven in the quarter, as the Warriors hit 57% in the quarter to close the gap to 56-55 after three quarters.
 
 Guelph turned up the defensive pressure entering the fourth quarter, and used a 16-2 fourth quarter run to blow the game open. Malcolm appeared to attack at will, scoring 12 in the pivotal quarter, and the Gryphon’s held the Warriors to just two field goals to end the game with an 82-63 margin of victory.
 
 The Gryphon’s will be looking to make it three in a row when they host the Laurier Golden Hawks Wednesday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. Tipoff is scheduled for 8pm.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Sophmore guard Julian Smith recorded his first double-double of the season as the Cape Breton University Capers men's basketball team rolled to a 94-61 victory over the Memorial Sea Hawks Saturday night in Sydney.
 
Smith was named the Eastside Mario's Player of the Game after finsihing with 15 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals in the CBU win.
 
Jimmy Dorsey had a game high 23 points to go with seven assists, four rebounds and four steals and A.J. Geugjes had 11 points and 11 boards for the winners, who had every player on the roster record a point.
 
Jason Shepherd had 12 points and eight rebounds for Memorial. Mike Helsby added 11 points in a losing cause.
 
The two teams will tip off Sunday at 3 p.m. in a rematch at the Sullivan Fieldhouse. 

Source: Cape Breton Sports Info

TORONTO - Third-year forward Alex Hill recorded a regular-season career-high 30 points in a 98-64 losing effort to the No. 1 Carleton Ravens on Saturday, January 14 at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.
 
Toronto’s (5-7) second straight loss places them in a three-way tie for third place with the Laurentian Voyageurs and Ryerson Rams.
 
A native of Toronto, Hill totalled nearly half of the Blues points, going 10-of-21 from the field, including four three-pointers, and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.  Hamilton, Ont., native Arun Kumar added 16 points, also with four three’s, in the losing cause.
 
The Ravens built an eight-point lead after the first 10 minutes of action and went onto outscore the Blues 22-15 in the second to take a 15-point advantage (43-28) into halftime.
 
The Blues attempted to rally brought the home fans to their feet at the start of the third quarter after two Kumar three-pointers brought the game within seven.  Unfortunately for U of T, the undefeated defending national champions took over from there, gradually extending their lead to come away with the 34-point win.
 
The Ravens shot 50% from the floor and went 19-for-37 from beyond the arc, while also out-rebounding Toronto 52-24 on the night. The Blues were 10-of-31, draining 10-of-30 three-point attempts in the loss.
 
Second-year guard Philip Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., led the Ravens with 22 points, while his twin brother, Thomas, added 21 in the win.
 
The Varsity Blues return to the court this Wednesday, January 18 as they host the Ryerson Rams at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. The game will be streamed live on SSN Canada via varsityblues.ca. Advance tickets are on sale: click here or call 416-946-3811.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

TORONTO- Michael L'Africain and Vikas Gill combined to go perfect from beyond the arc, draining six three-pointers between them and tallying 15 points each as the Ottawa Gee-Gees survived a late Rams charge, defeating Ryerson 83-77 at Kerr Hall Gym on Saturday night.

The Rams (5-7) made a big run in the final period of play after falling behind by as many as 12 points, and actually took over the lead with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, a couple of missed opportunities and clutch shooting by the Gee-Gees (8-4) allowed them to re-take the lead and escape out of Toronto with two wins after also earning a victory over the Varsity Blues on Friday. Ottawa now holds a three-game lead on both Ryerson and Toronto (5-7) for second-place in the East.

"They made some shots, we made a poor decision late, and that was the difference in the game," said Head Coach Roy Rana. "We had a flat first half, and you can't play one half against a good team. We had our chance to win, and now we have to go in their place and get a win."

The squads will do battle again in Ottawa on February 17.

Jordon Gauthier had a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds while shooting 8-of-14 from the floor, while Bjorn Michaelsen also picked up 17 points for the Rams.

Gauthier (Windsor, Ont.) came up with a block on Ottawa's first possession of the match, and minutes later Ola Adegboruwa (Toronto) picked up a steal and easy lay-in for the men. However, some quick plays in transition had the Gee-Gees up 8-4 early on.

Gill and L'Africain drained consecutive three's, but Michaelsen (Otterburn Park, Que.) answered with a strong run to the hoop, picking up the basket plus the harm. Luke Staniscia (Pefferlaw, Ont.) grabbed the rebound on the ensuing missed free throw, and Gauthier nailed a shot from beyond the arc to pull Ryerson within three.

After forcing a turnover by Ottawa on the next possession, Michaelsen finished off a nice offensive set and pass from Gauthier with a dunk. However, the Rams were down by three heading into the second.

Adegboruwa quickly tied the contest early in the period with a three-pointer. The teams were even over the next couple of minutes, but a 7-0 run by the Gee-Gees spread their lead. After a timeout by the Rams, the men scored four straight points to pull within a couple of Ottawa. Jones picked up a steal and took it to the hoop for two points after a jumper by Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) to make the score 33-28.

However, Ottawa heated up once again late in the half, ending the second quarter with a 9-1 streak and taking a 42-30 lead after two quarters of play.

Michaelsen had a first-half high of 10 points, while Gill tallied nine for the Gee-Gees, who shot a formidable 59% (17-of-29) from the floor in the opening two periods. The Rams were 10-of-29 in the half.

Both teams came out firing in the third, as the Rams tallied eight points in the first few minutes on a long-ranger from Gauthier and jumper from Adegboruwa. The fourth-year veteran then took the ball end-to-end again, finishing with a nice lay-in over a couple of defenders to bring the deficit within single digits.

Jahmal Jones followed his fellow guard up with a similar play to earn a lay-up, and came back on the next possession to nail another shot. The Mississauga native and FISU silver-medalist stayed hot, sinking a three while Michaelsen chipped in a couple for the Rams.

Unfortunately, the Gee-Gees shooting maintained its potency and Ottawa still held a seven-point lead with under four minutes to go in the third.

The Rams pulled within six on a three-point play by Gauthier near the end of the period, but two quick baskets by Gabriel Doe re-extended the lead. Jones hit a couple of free throws to conclude the third with Ryerson down 67-59.

The game tightened up in the final period, with Ryerson still chipping into Ottawa's lead. Adegboruwa continued his acrobatics, hitting a running lay-in while being swarmed by the Gee-Gees defenders. Nem Stankovic (Mississauga) hit one of two foul shots, but Gauthier picked up a board on the second and hit a quick lay-up to pull Ryerson within just two points of Ottawa.

After another three by L'Africain, Gauthier took the ball to the hoop again and managed to sink his shot while being fouled. He converted the free throw and the Rams were back within a single possession.

Michaelsen came up with a big block on defense, leading to another two points from Adegboruwa, and then Gauthier sent the crowd into a frenzy with a baseline penetration polished off with a thunderous dunk.

Michaelsen gave Ryerson its first lead of the game, 75-74, with just under four minutes to go in the contest.

Jacob Gibson sunk a shot from beyond the arc to put Ottawa up by two, and they added a couple more to hold an 80-76 advantage with 1:12 to play.

Ryerson came within three, and had possession of the ball with less than half a minute to play. But after a turnover, Michaelsen was forced to pick up his fifth personal on Gill. He made one of two shots, but because it was a technical, the Gee-Gees maintained possession. L'Africain was put on the line, and iced the game by sinking both his free throws with 4.7 seconds left.

Ottawa finished the game shooting over 50.0% from the floor and out-rebounding Ryerson 34-30. The Rams shot 40.0% as a team.

"Considering this is (arguably) a top-10 team in the country, it's encouraging that we know we can compete. Defensively we're getting better; we need to do a better job on the glass."

The men will have a quick turnaround from the weekend, as they will head a few blocks north on Wednesday night to take on the Varsity Blues in a mid-week battle between the downtown schools with third-place in the East on the line.

Ryerson will then head York and Laurentian for contests on Friday and Saturday evening respectively to wrap up the week. The Rams are back at home on January 27 and 28, where they will welcome the RMC Paladins and Queen's Gaels to Kerr Hall Gym.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info

WATERLOO, Ont. - Kale Harrison of Stratford, Ont., scored a game-high 19 points as the No. 7 Wilfird Laurier Golden Hawks (10-2) upended the No. 3 Lakehead Thunderwolves (10-2) by a score of 92-89 Saturday night.

The victory earned the Hawks a season split with the Thunderwolves who won game one of the weekend doubleheader 88-83 on Friday night.

Unlike Friday, Laurier came out of the gate strong, going on a 10-3 run to start the quarter and finished with a six point lead after 10 minutes of play. Lakehead responded in the second, outscoring the Hawks 24-21, but still found themselves behind 45-42 at the half.

The back-and-forth contest continued in the third quarter as the two teams traded runs but it was the Hawks, sparked by the play of Conor Meschino of Oakville, Ont., who held a four point lead heading to the fourth.

In the final frame, the Hawks once again got a spark from an unexpected source as Marcel Hyde of Scarborough, Ont., scored all seven of his points in the fourth to help Laurier hold off a hard-pressing Lakehead squad and come away with the win.

Aside from Harrison, three other Hawks finished with 10 or more points in the game, including Meschino, Matthew Buckley of Waterloo, Ont., and William Coulthard of Oakville, Ont., who had 16, 14 and 12 points respectively. Buckley also had 10 rebounds on the game to record his second double-double of the year.

The game also marked the return of Jamar Forde of Mississauga, Ont., to the Hawks lineup. The second year guard, playing in his first game of the year since returning from injury, had six points in 14 minutes of action. His play sparked the Hawks bench as they outscored the Thunderwolves bench 34-15 on the night.

Lakehead's top scorer on the night was Ryan Thomson of Oakville, Ont., who matched Harrisons point total with 19 of his own while adding 11 rebounds.

Laurier will now head out on the road for three straight games and will take on the Guelph Gryphons Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. - The Queen's Gaels (0-12) fell to the York University Lions (2-11) on Saturday night in Kingston. The final score of the game was 66-62.
 
The Gaels found themselves in a difficult position at the start of the game, behind 16-4 after a hot start from the Lions. Despite this, the team was able to rally and keep the score to within seven by the end of the opening quarter, 23-16. In the second and third, the Gaels stayed toe-to-toe with the Lions, with quarter scores of 12-12 and 21-21 in the second and third respectively. In the fourth quarter the Gaels made a push to get ahead, but could not overcome the deficit built in the first quarter.
 
NIkola Misljencevic led the Gaels with 14 points off the bench to go along with four rebounds.
 
The Gaels are back in action next Friday evening against Carleton University in Ottawa. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

WINNIPEG - After posting a 116-87 win over the University of Regina Cougars the night before, the University of Manitoba Bisons laced up to face the Cougars once again on Saturday, January 14 evening at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

After trailing through two quarters, the Bisons out-worked the Cougars in the final half and came back to win their second straight against Regina at a score of 94-83, climbing to 8-4 on their season, and putting up six straight conference wins (the longest right now in Canada West). The Cougars fall to 3-8.

Leading the Bisons in points on the evening was Kevin Oliver with an impressive 24 points.

The Cougars’ Paul Gareau put up the most points for his team with 16.

The Cougars were looking to set the pace early after their definitive loss the night before, and jumped out to an early lead that Manitoba had to chase the entire quarter. With Paul Gareau and Sterling Nostedt contributing six points each, Regina held a solid lead at the end of the first quarter, up 30-20.

Regina wanted to bring more of the same in the second quarter, but the Bisons got their game going and got to work on closing the gap, with Keith Omoerah landing a highlight-reel slam dunk to get his team fired up. The first half would close out at 45-40 Regina.

Manitoba continued to press in the third and it paid off in the latter half, as they managed to bring the game to a tie at 58-58, eventually tipping the scales and leading the Cougars 70-62 at the close of the third quarter after a jaw-dropping buzzer beater for three by the Bisons’ Kevin Oliver.

With momentum on their side, Manitoba continued to roll in the final stanza, going up by 10 points in the early moments of the quarter. As expected, it was a close game right to the end, but the Bisons held on to their comeback and took down the Cougars yet again, beating them 94-83.

The Manitoba Bisons take to the court next on Friday, January 20 at 8 p.m. to take on the University of British Columbia. Regina host Fraser Valley on Jan. 20.

Source: Manitoba Sports Info

EDMONTON - Fifth-year guard Daniel Ferguson scored a game high 26 points to lead the No.8 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears’ basketball team to an 85-77 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns Saturday night at the Saville Community Sport Centre in Edmonton.

The Golden Bears also got double-digit points from Jordan Baker (14), Rob Dewar (14) and Matt Cardoza (12), while Baker also picked up a team high nine rebounds.

Lethbridge was paced by 24 points from Daryl Cooper, as well as 15 points and 10 boards from Dominyc Cooper and nine points and 12 rebounds from the hands of Derek Waldner.

With the win, Alberta jumps into a tie for first place in the Prairie Division, along with the Manitoba Bisons, each with an 8-4 record.  Saskatchewan follows closely behind at 7-4, while Victoria leads the Pacific Division at 10-2.  Alberta split their two games against Manitoba earlier this season, but is 2-0 against the Huskies.

Lethbridge slides to a 5-7 record and are tied for fourth place in the Prairie Division with the Brandon Bobcats.  The top four teams make the playoffs, and the Pronghorns will need a pair of wins next weekend when they host the 4-8 Calgary Dinos.

On Saturday night in Edmonton, Alberta and Lethbridge kept it close throughout the game, as the Golden Bears really only gained control of the scoreboard in the second half.  Although Alberta had leads of 10 and 12 points throughout the contest, Lethbridge always found ways to draw back to within a couple of possessions, including late in the fourth with Alberta up by 10.  A quick Pronghorn bucket, followed by a steal on the in-bound, and another bucket, followed by a successful free-throw, halved the Alberta lead in under 10 seconds of play.

The Golden Bears earned a slim lead through the opening 10 minutes, but a resilient Pronghorns’ team matched Alberta bucket for bucket in the second quarter to trail by just two points, 42-40, at halftime. 

Coward led Lethbridge in scoring in the first half, putting away 12 points and nine rebounds in a very effective half of basketball.  In fact, Coward almost had as many boards by himself as the Bears’ had as a team (14).  Ferguson and Cardoza paced the Alberta first half attack with 15 and 10 points respectively.

Baker, the second leading scorer in CanadaWest, picked up the scoring slack in the second half, scoring 11 of his 14 total points in the final 20 minutes.  Dewar, who played well for Alberta on Friday night before fouling night, also added six points in the second half, but ultimately fouled out to end his night prematurely.

Although the Bears had their fourth quarter lead shrunk to single digits late in the proceedings, they maintained possession of the ball, forcing Lethbridge to continually take fouls, sending Alberta to the line for charity shots.  Both Ferguson and Cardoza sunk late attempts from the line to regain Alberta’s scoreboard ownership, and eventually cement the win at 85-77.

Source: Alberta Sports Info

CALGARY – Reigning Canada West player of the year Jamelle Barrett put up 40 points – and his No. 4-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies needed almost every one of them to record a hard out against the University of Calgary Dinos Saturday night, splitting their weekend series with a 90-83 win in the Jack Simpson Gym.
 
Barrett's 40-point outburst was back-loaded, with 30 of them coming in the second half as he outscored the rest of his team 30-23 after the break to lift the Huskies to their seventh win of the season. It was also just two off his career high of 42, set last season against Trinity Western, and it featured some absolutely ridiculous shot-making – including a turnaround fadeaway three-ball late in the shot clock with a man in his face late in the game. For good measure, he added nine assists in 34 minutes on the floor after a quiet – for his standards – 17-point outing Friday.
 
Saskatchewan improves to 7-4 with the victory, while the host Dinos drop to 4-8 with eight games remaining in the regular season.
 
Despite the loss, Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren was pleased with his team's effort and a split with a top-10 team.
 
“I thought our kids played hard,” said Vanhooren. “We had some executional issues here and there, a couple of stints where we shot the ball from the perimeter too much. We took too many jump shots and didn't get to the foul line enough, and that's going to take a more aggressive mentality.”
 
The biggest of those lapses for the Dinos came in the third quarter, when the Huskies – led by 15 points from Barrett – put up 32 points against 22 for the home side to turn what had been a three-point halftime lead into an insurmountable 13-point advantage at 69-56. Calgary did manage to outscore the Huskies 27-21 in the final frame, but Barrett again had 15 points in the fourth.
 
When they did get to the free throw line, the Dinos were successful – moving into top spot on the Canada West leaderboard in free throw percentage by scoring 19 of 22 attempts. Saskatchewan won the rebounding battle 42-33.
 
Again, point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson was the catalyst offensively for Calgary, scoring 20 points and hauling in eight rebounds in just his second game back from injury. Boris Bakovic continued to make his presence felt, scoring 19 while collecting nine boards, while Tyler Fidler (13) and Keenan Milburn (10) also cracked double digits in scoring.
 
Saskatchewan got 14 big points from Ben Baker, who shot 4-for-6 from the field and connected on both of his three-point shots. Duncan Jones put up 11, while Peter Lomuro added 10. The Huskies scored four more field goals (32) than the Dinos, all of them treys as the visitors shot 41.4 per cent from beyond the arc.
 
Senior forward Michael Lieffers led Saskatchewan with 10 rebounds.
 
The Huskies return home to host Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan next week, while the Dinos head south for a huge two-game series against the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Heading into next weekend, Calgary trails Lethbridge and Brandon (both 5-7) by a single game for the fourth guaranteed playoff spot in the east division.
 
“These games give us confidence going into Lethbridge next week, and we're going to need to play at least at this level to win down there,” said Vanhooren. “If we can get at least a split, it puts us in pretty good shape to make a run for the playoffs.”
 
Calgary returns home Jan. 27-28 for the Battle of Alberta against the Golden Bears.

Source: Calgary Sports Info

VICTORIA - The No. 6 nationally ranked University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team served up an enjoyable blend of strong team defence along with a balanced offensive performance as five players registered in double-digit scoring to defeat the No. 10 nationally ranked Fraser Valley Cascades 91-67 on Saturday Jan. 14.
 
Zac Andrus of Vashon Island, Wa., led the Vikes with 16 points, nine assists and three steals along with four rebounds at Ken & Kathy Shields at McKinnon Gymnasium in Victoria.

UVic improves to 10-2, while Fraser Valley slips to 7-5. The Vikes travel east to face the Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday Jan. 20 and Manitoba Bisons on Saturday Jan. 21 in Winnipeg, with both games tipping off at 6 p.m. PST (LIVE VIDEO AND STATS).
 
Other UVic players in double-digit scoring were rookie Reiner Theil of West Vancouver (11 points, eight rebounds), Ryan MacKinnon of Comox, B.C. (15 points and two blocks), Terrell Evans of Las Vegas (12 points, three assists and three steals) and Reese Pribilsky of Victoria (14 points). In all the UVic bench outscored Fraser Valley's 33-21, and the Vikes enjoyed a 21-5 edge on points off of turnovers.
 
Kyle Grewal of Surrey, B.C., had a game-high 21 points along with eight rebounds to pace Fraser Valley. Joel Friesen, who was ejected early in the fourth quarter after shoving MacKinnon to the floor, added 13 points in the loss.
 
Uvic led by eight points with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter and extended the lead to 27-15 when Andrus drained a long-range bomb at the quarter-buzzer.
 
A Pribilsky three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the opening half stretched the lead to 39-26 for UVic, followed by an Andrus trey with a minute remaining that blew the game open, 44-26 in favour of the Vikes.
 
UVic led 44-26 at the half.
 
After a brief UVic lapse, another three - this one from Michael Acheampong of Toronto - restored momentum and a Vikes run, with UVic leading 56-33 with 6:20 to go in the third quarter. Uvic led 69-48 after the third.
 
Early in the fourth, Friesen of Abbotsford, B.C., shoved MacKinnon to the floor of McKinnon and was ejected at the 9:13 mark with UVic well in front.
 
The Vikes widened the gap to 76-48 on an ensuing 7-0 run following the flagrant fouls and held on to win 91-67.
 
UVic played very well on the offensive glass pulling down 11 boards for 35 overall, scoring nine points on second-chance opportunities.

Source: Victoria Sports Info

Kamloops, BC—Playing without one of the Canada West’s top players, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack had a tough time with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Canada West men’s basketball action on Saturday (Jan 14).  Playing at the TRU Gym, the ‘Pack had Justin King (3rd year, forward, Las Vegas, NV) in street clothes and dropped a 78-54 decision to the T-Birds.  UBC moves to 8 and 2 while the WolfPack fall to 5-7. King was sitting out after suffering a hand injury late in Friday’s loss to UBC. He entered the weekend in the top two in the Canada West in both scoring and rebounding.

“ Injuries are a part of basketball,,” said WolfPack head coach Scott Clark. “it’s at those times that people step up.”

“Obviously King is huge piece of their puzzle and without him there I didn’t they didn’t have the confidence,” said Thunderbird bench boss Kevin Hanson. “ It’s a tough tough gig to play without your best guy. I thought our guys played well. We got a big lead but they chipped at it a couple of times.  They (TRU) played really hard. It was a chance for their young guys to get some quality minutes.  I thought Chas (Kok, 5th year, forward, Lynden, WA) played well.  I thought Kevin (Pribilsky, 4th year, guard, Victoria, BC) stepped up  and controlled the flow of the game.” Kok had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the WolfPack.  Pribilsky added 10 points.

“It was tough for Kevin,” said Clark. “He was in foul trouble and had to spend part of the game on the bench. It is difficult for him when he is on the bench. When he was out there he was effective. I thought Chas tried to step up and do the right things. They (UBC) are a quality team and we came up short. We can’t fault their intensions.” Clark felt that from time to time, his two veterans try to take too much upon themselves.  “They are trying to do the correct things. When there is a void people try to step up and that’s what happens.”

Clark was forced to utilize a lot of his younger players including 6’10” identical twins Blaz and Ivan Bozinovic (1st year, Kamloops, BC). Both had four points in 18 minutes and seven minutes of court time respectively.  The St.Ann’s Academy grads have come a long way in their development.

“They are coming from a disadvantaged background in terms of playing smaller school “A” basketball, “ Clark explained.  “Perhaps not playing against bigger teams or having a competitive schedule. They have some things to overcome. Both of them come each and every day and put an effort forward and do what is required.  I think they are getting to a point right now where we are seeing some dividends.  They still have a long way to go but they have an upside. You never give up on a big kid and I think they made some plays.”

Other first year players getting  extra minus were Zach Usherwood (guard, Coquitlam, BC), Mike Zayas (guard, Richmond, BC) and Connor Dolson (guard, Kamloops, BC).

“ We were thrilled to take two on the road: it is something we addressed to play more effective on the road,” Hanson added. “ I thought we did some great things”.

UBC, who led 47-31 at the half, got 22 points and 13 rebounds from Tommy Nixon (2nd year, forward, Vancouver, BC).

“Tommy played great and gave us something when we needed it,” Hanson explained. “When a guy can shoot it from that deep and has outside range and some great post moves inside and scored in transition.

He did a great job in a number of different areas. I was pleased with his defensive efforts as well. When you have a guy of that height being able to guard perimeter guys and the post, he is a natural Canada 3-4 position combo player.  I thought he had a great weekend for us. Other UBC players in double figures were Nathan Yu(5th year, guard, Richmond, BC) with 12 points and Balraj Baines(5th year, forward, Delta, BC) with 10.

The WolfPack visit Alberta and Saskatchewan next weekend (Jan 20-21) while UBC travels to Manitoba and Winnipeg.

RIM SHOTS: The WolfPack have only one more home game and its Saturday February 11 th at the Tournament Capital Centre against the UBCO Heat. It will be the final home game for their lone fifth year player: Kok. He will be honored before the contest.

Hanson on Kamloops product David Wagner (1st year, forward): “ When we go to a home town, we like to play the players. It was nice that David Wagner had some supporters here this weekend. It was good to have some people cheering for our team. I saw some good things out of him. He is going to get a lot of minutes when the senior crew graduates this year.  It is important for him and our other first year players to get some minutes. We were able to do that.”

Pribilsky was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds “Leader of the Pack” player of the game.

Source: Thompson Rivers Sports Info