VICTORIA - The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team will begin their campaign to return to the CIS Final 8. This weekend the Vikes will travel to face the Brandon Bobcats, Nov. 1, and the Regina Cougars, Nov. 2. Both games will be at 6 p.m. PST and will be broadcast live at http://canadawest.tv

The Vikes enter the Canada West season ranked No. 2, while they are No. 5 in the CIS Top-10 polls.

FULL SCHEDULE

SCOUTING THE VICTORIA VIKES
2012-13 conference record: 16-6 (2nd Pacific)
2013 CW playoffs: 3-1 (CW silver)
2013 CIS tournament: 1-2 (6th)
Last CW title: 2006
Last CIS title: 1997

CIS ranking: #5
CW ranking: #2

Key additions:  G Marucs Tibbs, G Mack Roth, G Patrick Pilato, G Junior Sesay, G Jordan Charles

Key returnees: F Terrell Evans, F Chris McLaughlin, G Kyle Peterson, G Reiner Theil

Key departures: G Michael Acheampong, F Pierce Anderson, G Brandon Dunlop

VICTORIA, BC – The Victoria Vikes graduated three veterans from last year's team that went 16-6 in the regular season and finished sixth overall at the CIS Final 8.

Head coach Craig Beaucamp returns for his 11th season with the Vikes and will be looking to repeat his national championship appearance with the help of returning senior forward and Canada West All-Star Terrell Evans. Six-foot-ten forward Chris McLaughlin is expected to pull a lot of the weight under the hoop, while 2012-13 point guard Kyle Peterson returns for his second season but this time as a shooting guard.  

The Vikes boast an impressive freshman class highlighted by newly-appointed point guard Marcus Tibbs, who has already logged critical minutes in pre-season. In addition the Vikes gain the talents of freshmen guards Patrick Pilato, Junior Sesay, Jordan Charles, as well as forward Mack Roth.

Throughout the pre-season the Vikes had their taste of competition, finding wins over the Concordia Stingers, Concordia Cavaliers, Wlifrid Laurier, Bishop's and 2013 CIS finalists Lakehead. At the annual Hugh-Laughton tournament, the Vikes fell to the defending national champions, the Carleton Ravens, despite putting on a good effort that held the Ravens to a six-man performance. Overall the Vikes have been 5-2 in their pre-season.

Reigning two-time Canada West Coach of the year will also return to the mix third-year guard Reiner Theil, senior Ryan Erikson, as well as fifth year John Woldu, who was out last year for a knee injury.

SCOUTING THE BRANDON BOBCATS
2012-13 conference record: 6-16 (8th Prairie, missed playoffs)
Last CW title: 2002
Last CIS title: 1996

CIS ranking: N/A
CW ranking: #9

Key additions: Mikee Dosado, Ryan Hawley

Key returnees: Ilarion Bonhomme, Isaiah James, Jordan Reaves, James Elias, Ali-Mounir Benadbelhak

Key departures: Pacome Matulu, Peterson Suffrard, Michael Smith

BRANDON, MB – The Bobcats will hit the floor this season with their most experienced roster in years as they return all five starters from last year, and add some key pieces that they hope will take them back to the Canada West playoffs.

Fifth-year players Jordan Reaves, Emerick Ravier and James Elias are all expected to play big roles this season. Reaves, who led the Bobcats in scoring and rebounding last season, will shoulder a lot of the load on both the offensive and defensive ends. The 6-foot-4 forward has yet to play on a Bobcat team with a winning record, and will be looking to change that this season.

Ravier is returning from a knee-injury that forced him to miss all of last season. The Ottawa product sustained a complete tear of his ACL in January of 2012 in a league game against Regina, and has been sidelined since. Now the 6-foot-3 guard is healthy he's shown flashes of his old self in the pre-season, most recently putting up 20 points in just over two quarters of play on October 19 against the Dakota College Jacks.

Elias adds size (6-foot-11) as well as the ability to spread the floor with range from beyond the arc.

The Bobcats also return 2011-12 Canada West rookie of the year Ilarion Bonhomme, who leads a talented group of guards that includes returner Kenonte Ramsey, Vanier College transfer Mikee Dosado, and Garden City Collegiate product Ryan Hawley. Bonhomme was recently named the University of Winnpeg Lea Marc Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Rounding out the projected starters for the 'Cats are Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak, who missed most of the second-half of the season last year with a broken collarbone, and Isaiah James, who also missed time last year with a broken foot. Both are healthy this year, and are expected to have an impact. Benabdelhak comes back to the Bobcats after a busy summer of playing for Algeria's men's national team.


SCOUTING THE REGINA COUGARS
2012-13 conference record: 7-15 (7th Prairie, missed playoffs)
Last CW title: N/A
Last CIS title: N/A

CIS ranking: N/A
CW ranking: #15

Key additions: Wesley Jones, Will Tallman, Brandon Tull

Key returnees: Matthew Augustine, Addison Docherty, Brendan Hebert, Darius Mole, Travis Sylvestre, Jeremy Zver

Key departures: Frank Brown, Connor Burns, Paul Gareau, Sterling Nostedt

REGINA –Regina will have a completely new look this season, and that starts right at the top. The Cougars have a new bench boss as Steve Burrows takes over as the team's head coach following a long tenure at the U of R as an assistant.

The team loses three starters from last year's squad that went 7-15 in Canada West play, but return experienced guards Brendan Hebert and Darius Mole. Hebert started all 22 games for the Cougars and averaged over six assists per game, while Mole has long been a fan favourite at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport and will be counted on to help stabilize a youthful U of R squad.

Making his way back onto the Cougar roster is Will Tallman, who last played with Mount Royal and also suited up for the U of R back in 2008-09 as a first-year player. Tallman averaged 5.8 minutes per game that year, but he'll be counted on to play a much bigger role for the Cougars this season. Joining Tallman in the front court will be Lakeland College transfer Wesley Jones, who has already been turning heads with his abilities on the defensive side of the ball.

Fifth-year guard Addison Docherty is the lone player in his final season of CIS eligibility, while the Cougars will also look for big contributions from third-year players Matthew Augustine and Jeremy Zver.

The lone second-year player on the roster is forward Travis Sylvestre, who will look to build on a fine rookie campaign which saw his role increase dramatically as the season went on. Out of the eight first-year players on the roster, Brandon Tull (Ajax, Ont. / Phelps HS) has had the biggest impact so far and Burrows also expects Ryan Delwo (Regina, Sask. / Sheldon-Willams Collegiate), Luke Girke (Melbourne, Australia / St. Michael's), and Kade Marra (Melbourne, Australia / Elisabeth Murdoch College) to make contributions as rookies.

The new-look Cougars will be tested in a big way this weekend in their home openers against UBC and Victoria on Friday and Saturday nights at the CKHS.