For UVic, it's their second-to-last regular-season homestand in 2010-11 and will be an important opportunity to move up in the standings.

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The Vikes men sit at 9-7 and are coming off a pair of road wins at Winnipeg. Meanwhile, the visiting Pronghorns (5-11) come to town with desperation as they sit outside of the playoff picture looking in with eight games remaining on the schedule. They won their two weekend home games against Brandon by scores of 80-73 and 81-72, but had lost four straight against Alberta and UBC prior to that in the regular season. 

Vikes men's basketball head coach Craig Beaucamp, whose team has been battling with the flu this week, said he expects a test from the Pronghorns.

”They're a team that can go on runs and be streaky and put up points in short order,” Beaucamp said. “They've had some injury issues and they're not as deep as they have been… but they have a lot of guys who can score in the open and they have a great backcourt trio.”

That threesome of guards consists of fifth-year seniors Danhue Lawrence and Randy Davis, and junior Quinn Van Gaalen. Davis leads the team in scoring, averaging 18 points per game, and the trio combines for an average of 42 points each contest (Lawrence 14. PPG, Van Gaalen 9.5 PPG).

“They are also one of the best offensive rebounding teams in our conference.”

The Vikes have been working on being more consistent and Beaucamp said they also need to be better from the charity-stripe. He is happy with their defensive improvements through the season, but said he wants to continue to see points against reduced.

“We have to me more consistent. We've had quarters where there's lapses so we have to be more consistent in scoring throughout the game,” Beaucamp said. “We've shown the ability to play with the top teams in the conference but we have also seen how strong the bottom teams area. It's a symbol of how strong the Canada West is. We have to take it one game at a time, as cliché as that is, because every team in this conference can win.”

UVic's top scorer Ryan MacKinnon is coming off a pair of outstanding performance in which he notched 39 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals. #Marco Dolcetti# is also a top scorer, averaging 10.9 points per game.

The top eight teams in the Canada West qualify for the post-season with the top four seeds hosting best-of-three playoff series.

“We're trying to be one of the final eight teams, and probably, realistically can finish as high as fourth right now,” Beaucamp said. “Lethbridge is fighting for their playoff life right now. They're scrappy and playing well as of late.”

“We need to be ready.”

The Skinny
UVic's offence has been terrific in the second half, while Lethbridge has allowed a Canada West high 1,410 points (88 points per game) through 16 games this season. They come in with a 3-5 record on the road. Lethbridge needs to limit points against to be successful against a Vikes offence has proven it can be explosive. The Pronghorns also need to stay out of foul trouble with Derek Waldner and Abner Kamps fouling out of four games each this season; when they're out, it limits their rebounding ability, especially on the offensive glass. The Vikes are aiming for consistency and would like to see their secondary scoring with #Michael Berg# and #Pierce Anderson#, collectively averaging about 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, continue to shine. UVic also needs to limit Lethbridge's ability to score second-chance points, or reduce the impact of their offensive rebounding game with strong box-outs.

Playing for Playoff Positioning
Victoria sits in fifth place in the Canada West at 9-7, and looks to go above .500 at home – the Vikes are 4-4 at McKinnon Gymnasium this season. They trail fourth-place Alberta (10-6) for a shot at hosting a home playoff game. Saskatchewan (11-3), UBC (14-2) and Trinity Western (14-2) occupy the top three in the Canada West. Meanwhile, the Pronghorns men come in at 5-11 in a tie for ninth place and just one win out of the playoffs in the Canada West. They have two games in hand on Calgary (5-9) and are behind Fraser Valley (6-10) for the eighth and final spot in the post-season.