The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team is in Kamloops, B.C., for their final regular-season road trip for a twin-bill each against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Feb. 4 and 5 (m-8 p.m.).
LIVE VIDEO AND STATS
Boasting the Canada West's top defence, allowing an average of 69.8 points per game, UVic (13-7) is alone in fifth place, one win up on sixth place Regina (12-6) which has two games in hand.
But the Vikes have some ground to gain, trailing Trinity Western (17-3), UBC (16-2), Saskatchewan (14-4) and Alberta (14-6). UBC and Saskatchewan both have two games in hand. The Vikes, riding a six-game winning streak, truly control their own destiny on the final weekend, hosting second-place UBC in the final two games of the regular season.
Thompson Rivers sits in a tie for 11th place with Brandon, but the struggling Bobcats have two games in hand. Thompson Rivers would essentially have to win out to make the playoffs with four games remaining.
The WolfPack are led by Chas Kok who averages 15.8 points per game along with 5.7 rebounds. Greg Stewart is the Thompson Rivers rebounding machine, pulling in a Canada West best 12.7 boards per game along with 13.6 points. They have offensive balance, too, with Justin Riggins averaging 15.6 points per game and Kevin Pribilsky averaging 14.3 points per game. Pribilsky leads the Canada West with a three-point shooting percentage of 48.6 per cent, with 51 treys made on the season.
Ryan MacKinnon of Comox, B.C., the Vikes leading scorer this season averaging 16.7 points per game (11th in Canada West), has registered in double-digit scoring in every game in 2011, with 20 or more points in five of the eight games in the calendar year thus far, averaging 18.6 points in each of his last eight contests.
The MacKinnon File
Jan. 7 vs Trinity Western - 20 points, five rebounds
Jan. 8 vs Trinity Western - 10 points
Jan. 14 at Winnipeg - 18 points
Jan. 15 at Winnipeg - 21 points
Jan. 21 vs Lethbridge - 17 points
Jan. 22 vs Lethbridge - 20 points
Jan. 28 at Brandon - 20 points
Jan. 29 at Brandon - 23 points
TOTAL POINTS IN PAST 8 GAMES - 149 points, average of 18.6 points per game
