VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes men's and women's basketball teams will return to McKinnon Gymnasium for a pair of home games against the Trinity Western Spartans, Nov. 15-16. On Friday, the Vikes will also pair with the Royal Bank of Canada and OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network to host a component of the Swab Mob campaign.
OFFICIAL SWAB MOB RELEASE
MEN'S SCHEDULE /
WOMEN'S SCHEDULE
Both the men's and women's Vikes teams cracked the CIS top-10 polls this week after visiting the Fraser Valley Cascades, Nov. 9-10, in Abbotsford, B.C. The women currently rank No. 8 with a Canada West record of 2-2. The Vikes were bested last weekend 63-49 and 62-52 by the No. 2 Cascades, while this weekend the women will face the unranked Spartans who are 0-4 after losses to UNBC and UBC.
The depth on the team has shown as the Vikes have had different leading scorers in each of their first four matches. Fifth-year
Debbie Yeboah (Winnipeg, MB) has been the most consistent, leading the pre-season scoring and tallying 27 points in the home opener against UBC Okanagan, Nov. 2. Other Vikes on the leading score board include
Jordyn Newman (White Rock, BC), Jessica Renfrew (Victoria, BC),
Tessla Rennie (Red Lodge, MT) and
Jenny Lewis (Fall River, NS), further showcasing the Vikes' depth on the bench.
The Vikes men boast a 4-0 record in the Canada West and entered the CIS top-10 polls this week in the No. 10 spot. Last weekend, the Vikes impressed with a 73-69 win on Friday and 78-72 win on Saturday over the No. 8-ranked Cascades. This weekend, the Vikes men will play Trinity Western who have a 1-3 Canada West record and are seventh in the Pacific Division.
The Vikes men have had consistent leadership from
Michael Acheampong (Toronto, Ont.), Terrell Evans (Las Vegas, NV) and
Chris McLaughlin (Oakville, ON). The trio have combined for either leading scorer or leader in rebounds in all four opening games.
The Vikes' first match ups will go down on Friday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men. The game night activation will be in support of the Royal Bank of Canada and OneMatch. Thanks to OneMatch and RBC, the Vikes basketball program has recognized the challenge to register optimal stem cell donors and are helping raise awareness to encourage the increase of registrants to Canada's stem cell registry.
“Our UVic Vikes are pleased to support OneMatch, and the Victoria community,” says
Clint Hamilton, Director, Vikes Athletics & Recreation. “We understand the need to identify as many healthy young adult donors as possible and we are happy to support both OneMatch and RBC in helping increase the number of donors.”
Today, 75 per cent of registrants are Caucasian and only 25 per cent are from Canada's many diverse ethnic groups. Research shows that younger stem cells from male donors can provide better effects on patients post-transplant. Equally, a patient is most likely to find a suitable match with a donor of the same ethnic background. There is a special need for young, diverse male donors to better support all patients in need.
For more information on Swab Mob events and One Match visit
www.onematch.ca or visit on facebook at
www.facebook.com/onematch
The Vikes women and men will tip off at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Nov. 16 and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Nov. 17. For full schedule and information visit
www.govikesgo.com
Swab Mod event details:
