Ottawa – The University of Victoria Vikes fell behind early but rebounded through the remaining three quarters of their Mar. 7 quarter-final match against the McGill Redmen to earn a 63-54 victory in their first game of the CIS men's basketball Final 8 tournament. Victoria exercised their league-best scoring-defence to hold the Redmen to just 13 points combined in the second and third quarters.
 
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Fifth-year senior Terrell Evans led the Vikes with a massive double-double, totaling 19 points and 11 rebounds—10 of them in the defensive zone, while six-foot-ten teammate Chris McLaughlin added 16 points and seven rebounds. Third-year transfer Marcus Tibbs added 15 points and seven boards in the Vikes victory.
 
Francois Bourque led the Redmen with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Simon Bibeau put up 12 points and six boards. Teammate Vincent Dufort added seven rebounds and seven assists for his squad in 31 minutes of play.
 
The Vikes opened up the first quarter exchanging baskets with the Redmen, with Tibbs opening up scoring for Victoria with a long field goal basket.
 
The Redmen were deadly from beyond the arc early, going four-for-six for 12 points on a pair of threes from Simon Bibeau, as well as threes from Vincent Dufort and Nathan Joyle. The Redmen shot 46 percent from the field goal line in contrast to the Vikes 33-percent, building up a 15-5 lead midway through the first quarter.
 
A timeout by Canada West Coach of the Year Craig Beaucamp settled the Vikes down, who came out of the break with a strong ending to the first, highlighted by a Marcus Tibbs dunk to bring the Vikes within five points, with McGill's lead cut to just 20-5.
 
The momentum carried over into the second quarter for the Vikes, who opened up with three straight baskets by Evans, Pilato and a field goal from Tibbs to take a temporary 21-20 lead.
 
The Vikes defence held McGill off the board for just over four minutes of the second, until Francois Bourqe was able to get a lay-up to get McGill on the board, but the Vikes' confidence would not waver. McLaughlin and Evans combined to go on a 9-0 run that forced McGill head coach Dave DeAveiro to call a timeout.
 
The teams exchanged baskets to close out what was a dominant quarter by Victoria, who outscored the Redmen 20-9 to take a 35-29 lead heading into the second half of play.
 
The Vikes continued to execute their defensive style of play into the third while receiving clutch shots that included a Mack Roth three-pointer to give the Vikes a 39-29 lead. McGill was once again unable to get a basket until the 4:44 mark of the third quarter, although McGill's defense was also strong, holding their opponent to just nine points in the quarter.
 
The Redmen simply could not get their field goal game going after the first, with none of their players entering double-digits in scoring heading into the final frame and managing just 24-percent from field goal range after three quarters.
 
Needing a strong fourth quarter, the Redmen came out with two straight lay-ups to get within seven points of the lead. First–year Vike Patrick Pilato answered for the Vikes with a three-pointer to regain a 10-point lead.
 
Coming out of a media timeout at the five-minute mark, the teams once exchanged baskets, but McGill could not dig into the Vikes lead that continued to hover around 10 points.  The Redmen's 21-point fourth quarter required them to also open up the floor for the Vikes, who continued to match their opponents basket-for-basket, holding the lead until the final whistle with a 63-54 victory. 
 
The victory advances the Vikes to the Final 8 semifinals, where they will face the winner of the Saskatchewan Huskies and Ottawa Gee-Gees at 5:00 p.m., PST. The game will be broadcast on Sportsnet 360 as well as www.cis-sic.tv.

SCORING SUMMARY
MCG: 20-9-4-21: 54
VIC: 15-20-9-19: 63

SCORING LEADERS
MCG: F. Bourqe (14), S.Bibeau (12), V.Defort (7)
VIC: T.Evans (19), C.McLaughlin (16), M.Tibbs (15)