VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes men had a see-saw performance throughout four quarters of basketball as they fell 64-62 to the Warner Pacific Knights on Oct. 26 at McKinnon Gym. The Vikes were the tale of two teams putting on a good scoring show in the first and fourth quarters but gave up 22 turnovers to end their pre-season with a 5-2 record.
 
BOX SCORE
 
Terrell Evans led the way for the Vikes with 20 points and eight boards, while Chris McLaughlin put up nine points and nine rebounds. The Vikes were held below 40 per cent from the field and had 18 points come from the bench.
 
For the Knights, visiting from Portland, Ore., William Sharp led the scoring with 17 points, while Ryan Parks added four shots from distance to finish the night with 14 points. Doug Thomas also made good for three threes, 13 points and 10 boards.
 
First-year point guard Marcus Tibbs got the Vikes off to a good start draining his first three-pointer attempt just one minute into the game. The Vikes traded buckets with the visiting Knights as Sean Gaines paced the visitors with six first-frame points. Kyle Peterson and Tibbs each hit a shot from distance to give the Vikes a 20-10 tilt entering the second quarter.
 
Warner Pacific came out like a different team in the second frame going on an 18-0 tear that left the Vikes off the board for six and a half minutes. Sharp led the way with nine second-quarter points, while Parks drained a daggering shot from three steps back of the arc to boost the Knights 28-20. The Vikes finally found their answer when McLaughlin made good on a baseline bucket that sprung the Vikes for an 8-0 run of their own.
 
Dominic Ohl came off the bench to hit back-to-back threes from the left side, while Evans finally found his scoring touch in the paint to bring the Vikes square at 30-30 entering the half-time break.
 
In the third Warner Pacific started with a 5-0 run that the Vikes responded to as Evans added the first seven of the Vikes' second-half points. Tied at 37, Sharp made good on a free throw to give the visitors a one-point edge but John Woldu was the first sub for the Vikes after six minutes of second-half play and nailed a shot from distance to lift the Vikes 40-38.
 
Sharp sunk two more free throws to tie the game while back-to-back threes from each of Parks and Thomas lifted the visitors 46-40. Ryan Erickson scored at the buzzer to cut the lead to four as the Vikes trailed 46-42 entering the final quarter.
 
The fourth quarter was a thriller as the visitors gained a seven-point lead thanks to five huge points from Thomas. Mack Roth turned it around draining a three-pointer from the baseline moments after subbing in. Just after Roth's score Tibbs made a huge steal and went all the way to the basket to cut the Knights' lead to four.
 
Thomas served up a jumper to take Warner Pacific up again 61-57 but Reiner Theil put up a long-range shot to cut the game to a one-point tilt. Back to the other end Josh Black drained two from the line but Theil hit another trey to get the Vikes back within one.
 
In the final moments two free throws from Sharp sealed the game at 64-62 for the Knights as the Vikes were unable to capitalize on their final inbound. 
 
"We had 22 turnovers," said a lost-for-words Craig Beaucamp, head coach of the Vikes. "We did a poor job on offence getting penetration and just turned the ball over too much."
 
The end-to-end game was the lone pre-season match up for the Vikes men at McKinnon Gym. The men will hit the road for their opening Canada West games facing Brandon and Regina on Nov. 1 and 2, respectively. Watch the games live at http://canadawest.tv
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
UVIC: 20-10-12-20 : 62
WPC: 10-20-16-18 : 64
 
SCORING LEADERS
UVIC: Terrell Evans (20), Chris McLaughlin (9)
WPC: William Sharp (17), Ryan Parks (14), Doug Thomas (13)