OTTAWA – The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team got the better of their Canada West rivals, the UBC Thunderbirds, when it really mattered on Mar. 9 at Scotiabank Place. The Vikes downed the Birds 71-65 in consolation semifinal action, advancing to the fifth-place game against the McGill Redmen.
 
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The Vikes men were led by trio of scorers including big man Chris McLaughlin (Oakville, ON), who had five dunks in the game to finish with 20 points and six rebounds. Terrell Evans (Las Vegas, NV) and Brin Taylor (Edmonton) enjoyed a 16-point game each. The Vikes were 77 percent from the line, earned 44 points in the paint and 20 points from their bench.
 
The Birds struggled without CIS second-team All-Canadian, Doug Plumb, who sufferered a concussion late in their quarter-final on Mar. 8, but had a 19-point performance from Brylle Kamen. David Wagner chipped in for 12 points and five boards, while Conor Morgan used his size to pull down 11 rebounds and add eight points.

"We never get tired of playing UBC," said third year McLaughlin, who last faced the Birds only seven days ago. "We have to always take advantage of playing UBC. It's always exciting and there is always a lot of energy. We were looking to come back, not even from last night's loss, but from last Saturday, when we lost the Canada West title. That really slipped away from us and we wanted to come here and show them that we deserved to win that and that we deserve to be in this tournament."
 
The Vikes got off to a good start as a quick break down the court led to a Michael Acheampong (Toronto, Ont.) behind-the-back pass to an open Evans for the initial 2-0 lead. UBC outside shooting specialist Kamen was quick to respond with an uncontested bucket from the top of the arc but Vikes McLaughlin put in three-straight buckets from in the paint to keep the Vikes on track.
 
With the game tied at eight, Kyle Peterson (Edmonton) and Evans contributed a bucket each, while Acheampong converted on a solo effort and put in a free throw for the and-one play. That scoring series gave the Vikes a 7-0 run and capped by a Taylor three-pointer, gave the Vikes an 18-16 edge at the first break.
 
The Birds opened the second quarter with a 4-0 spurt that was soon curbed by a baseline jumper from Acheampong. Play was end-to-end with the score favouring the Vikes, who won the first-half rebound war 19-18. Taylor hit two of his three first-half threes to lead the Vikes offence, while UBC's Kamen and Isaiah Solomon were the offensive threats with nine points each. McLaughlin made good on a three-point play after he was fouled on a huge dunk to get the Vikes up by five, 36-31, and ended the first half with 12 points. The Vikes led 38-36 at half.
 
In the second half the Vikes enjoyed a 10-point cushion after Acheampong, Evans and McLaughlin were consistent converters. McLaughlin's second dunk of the game put the Vikes up 46-36. The Vikes went up 50-40 off an Evans jumper but the Birds clawed their way back, after Wagner helped lead a 9-0 run to cut the Vikes' lead to one. Taylor slashed through the paint and made a nifty pass to Evans to hold the 52-51 edge entering the final quarter.
 
The final quarter said it all for the two teams who played close matches against each other all season. The game was tied five times, with the lead changing twice as the Vikes out-scored the Birds 19-14 in the final 10 minutes of play. The Vikes had 40 rebounds, 13 team fouls and 10 turnovers, almost identical to the Thunderbirds who had 41 boards, 13 fouls and 13 turnovers. McLaughlin and Taylor had the final-quarter heroics. Six-foot-ten McLaughlin put in two huge dunks, while Taylor was key in extending the Vikes' margin when the game was tied at 61.
 
The Vikes shot 43 percent form the field, relative to UBC, at 36, and were 10-for-13 from the line to take the game 71-65. The win pits the Vikes against the McGill Redmen, with fifth-place on the line, while the Birds' 2013 CIS campaign comes to an end.

"It's definitely not over yet," were McLaughlin's final words, as the Oakville native prepares for the Vikes' shot at fifth place. The Vikes have not played at the CIS national championship since their silver-medal finish in 2006. 
 
The Vikes will tipoff at 8 a.m. PDT and will be broadcast live at http://cis-sic.tv
 
SCORING BY QUARTER:
VIC: 18-20-14-19: 71
UBC: 16-20-15-14: 65
 
SCORING LEADERS:
VIC: Chris McLaughlin (20), Terrell Evans (16), Brin Taylor (16)
UBC: Brylle Kamen (19), David Wagner (12)