The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team takes its impressive 9-3 road record into Edmonton beginning tonight for the best-of-three Canada West quarter-final playoff series with the Alberta Golden Bears.

The Golden Bears (16-8 conference, 18-9 overall) are riding a two-game winning streak but those two wins came over Calgary. They've won nine of their past 12 games.

After experiencing delays in getting to Edmonton on Wednesday due to snowfall in Victoria, the Vikes men practiced in Alberta at an area high school in Edmonton Wednesday night.

Vikes men's basketball head coach Craig Beaucamp said the team is prepared and was happy with how they have responded in limited practice following two losses to the No. 2 nationally ranked UBC Thunderbirds Feb. 18 and 19 in Victoria.

"Playing UBC was not a bad thing for us. We got pushed and extended and potentially exposed in a couple of areas," Beaucamp said. "It helps us in our growth and it helps to be pressured. I think that's going to help us in the series."

"And we need to be consistent in all four quarters," Beaucamp added "We seem to be having one quarter a game where we do not show up."

The road warrior Vikes know they're in for a tough series, and Beaucamp said he thinks his team has played better away from Victoria because they are able to solely focus on basketball..

"I think that sometimes things are easier to control on the road. You control all the variables on the road," Beaucamp said. "Obviously our crowd is a big X factor at home but you also have classes, family routines and other things you deal with. On the road, our focus is 100% in preparing for the games. I think that's part of reason we've been as successful as we have away from home this year."

"Arguably we have had a bit of a softer road schedule than home schedule, and we played two of top three teams in Canada at home," Beaucamp added.

As expected with a match-up between the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams in the conference, Beaucamp said both Alberta and UVic are equally matched.

"If you go look throughout the statistical categories it is quite evenly matched. It's a series that could go all three games," Beaucamp said. "That's not to say one team could not win two straight, either."

The Vikes will need to watch for the Golden Bears top-two scorers Daniel Ferguson (23 PPG) and Jordan Baker (17.8 PPG and 10.1 RPG).

"We will need to contain them and limit their impact and scoring the game," Beaucamp said. "Both guys are going to score points between two of them, though, so to also limit the scoring from their secondary scorers will be key to our success. Ironically, as key as our focus has been on taking care of things on the defensive end, our goal is to play well offensively and get a number of guys contributing."

Canada West Quarter-Finals
(Best-of-Three Series)
Thursday, February 24
UVic at Alberta, Main Gym, 6 p.m. PST  (Webcast) (Live Stats)
Friday, February 25
UVic at Alberta, Main Gym, 2 p.m. PST (Webcast) (Live Stats)
Saturday Feb. 26
UVic at Alberta, Main Gym, 2 PST (if necessary) (Webcast) (Live Stats)