VICTORIA - #Ryan MacKinnon# scored a game-high 20 points - 11 coming in the opening quarter - as the University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team improved to 11-7 with a 76-51 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns in front of a boisterous crowd at McKinnon Gymnasium on Saturday Jan. 22.

Fifth year forward and White Spot Vikes player of the game Wendell Thomas added 14 points and three rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. The native of Kelowna, B.C., said his team has improved over the weekend as they now prepare for a four-game road swing

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"We're doing well, we're playing really good basketball right now." Thomas said. "Tonight we knew they were going to come out with even more intensity, we had to be prepared."

The loss drops the Pronghorns to 5-13.

"On defence, our emphasis tonight was on packing in the key and their dual penetration," Thomas said. "We know this was an important game. We knew this conference is way tight right now."

Vikes men's basketball head coach Craig Beaucamp said the weekend sweep - part of a four-game winning streak - is important with two straight weekends on the road at Brandon and Thompson Rivers.

"We made an ongoing effort and were determined to be better in the first and third quarter tonight. Those have been our Achilles heel all year to be honest," the eighth-year bench-boss said. "We have not been too sharp out of the gate and coming out of halftime."

The Vikes built an early 22-3 lead before having a brief lapse midway through the first half and allowing the Pronghorns back into the contest. The Vikes led 49-30 at the halftime break after a nice 16-5 run to help put them way out in front again.

Dominating the battle inside the paint and capitalizing on Letbridges 23 turnovers, the Vikes led by as much as 26 in the fourth quarter and shot 48 per cent from the field.

"In the three games prior, they all came down to the wire," Beaucamp said, eluding to UVic's past three victories. In fact, four of their past five games had been nail-biters. "Anytime we can string together successful halves and games, it's a good sign."

Beaucamp's Vikes now play against two teams below Lethbridge in the standings on the road. He said it's important to avoid "getting seduced by the standings."

"There's not much difference between the teams in the middle and the teams in the bottom of the conference," Beaucamp said. "All these teams are fighting for their playoff lives and playing desperate basketball."

"These are going to be important games for everyone," Beaucamp said.

For the Vikes, it's nice to get on a roll.