VICTORIA – Fourth-quarter perimeter shooting propelled the University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team 77-63 over the Trinity Western Spartans on Nov. 17 at McKinnon Gym. The Vikes improve their record to 5-1 in the Canada West, while the Spartans drop to 2-4.
The Vikes were led in scoring by
Michael Acheampong (Toronto, Ont.) who tallied 17 points, was perfect from the line and drained three timely treys. Both
Terrell Evans (Las Vegas, NV) and
Brin Taylor (Edmonton) excelled in the final quarter to finish the game with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
“We had contributions from multiple people tonight – five players were in double figures,” said Vikes head coach
Craig Beaucamp. “That takes pressure off the usual scorers and that's what we need for us to score. We need others to step up besides Terrell and Mike.”
Third-year Vike
Chris McLaughlin (Oakville, ON) did well to contain the Spartans' top gun in
Mark Perrin (Toronto). Perrin, who earned 27 points last night, earned 10 of his 24 total points in the fourth quarter.
Denny McDonald (Mississauga, Ont.) and
Tyler Linttell (Kelowna, B.C.) filled in the rest with with 14 and 8 points, respectively.
The Vikes opened the game with a quick 7-0 run but were quickly shut down as the Spartans went on their own 8-0 streak shortly after. Vikes'
Reiner Theil (West Vancouver, B.C.) hit two from the top of the arc to help the Vikes edge the visitors 13-9 at the end of the first.
In the second quarter, some tighter defence, including eight offensive boards, helped the Vikes put up 10 unanswered points. The Spartans started to battle back, as Linttell and Taylor Heinrichs (Port Moody, B.C.) combined for nine of Trinity Western's second-quarter points.
The Vikes and Spartans traded buckets throughout the remaining minutes of the first half until Dunlop found
Ted Neilson (Nanaimo) under the hoop to gain the two-point edge, 30-28, entering the halfway break.
The Vikes let a 11-point lead slip away in the third quarter, as Spartans rookie
Lucas Goossen (Ladner, B.C.) checked in to add a timely bucket, followed by a shot from distance. The Vikes did get on the board with some perimeter shooting from Acheampong and
Kyle Peterson (Edmonton), who combined for 13 third-quarter points.
Perrin contributed an impressive 14 points in the third to trail the Vikes 48-45 entering the final quarter.
The home side was able to finally grab a comfortable lead as some accurate three-point shooting from
Brandon Dunlop (Victoria, BC), Taylor and Evans opened up a 19-point lead. The Spartans ran into foul trouble, sending the Vikes to capitalize in bonus and finish off the game with a 77-63 victory.
The Vikes will head on the road next weekend, Nov. 23-24, to visit Alberta and Saskatchewan, while the Spartans will host both Winnipeg and Manitoba. All games will be broadcast live at
http://canadawest.tv
SCORING BY QUARTER
UVIC: 13-17-18-29 :77
TWU: 9-19-17-18 :63
SCORING LEADERS
TWU: Mark Perrin (24), Denny McDonald (14), Tyler Linttell (8)
