VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team will look to keep their spot in the top half of the Canada West Pacific Division standings on Jan. 22-23 when they head east to Manitoba to face the Winnipeg Wesmen. The Wesmen, currently sitting sixth at 5-5 with two games in hand on the Vikes, have a shot at drawing closer to the Vikes (7-5) in the overall standings.
 
The trip to Winnipeg wraps up two consecutive road weekends against prairie opposition for the Vikes after having split a series against the Alberta Golden Bears on Jan. 15-16. Fourth-year Vike Grant Sitton and third year Jordan Charles each had 16 points in a 66-60 rebound win after having dropped the first of the two weekend games 71-51. An upcoming series with the Wesmen after an important win in Alberta carries a lot of weight in the standings for the Vikes with six of the teams separated by just six points.
 
"That's the way it is in the Canada West," said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp. "Winnipeg is another one of those teams jammed into the third to eighth-place positions with us and we are all fighting for a playoff spot. We're expecting a determined, focused Winnipeg side this weekend that will play desperate in search of a win."
 
The Wesmen are coming off a home-and-home sweep of the struggling Brandon Bobcats (0-10). Fifth-year Wesmen Jelane Pryce did a fair amount of the damage, scoring 15 and 17 points, respectively, over the weekend. Third year Ryan Oirbans posted a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds in the Wesmen's 83-72 win to bring them back to .500 in the standings on Jan. 9.
 
Fifth-year Vike Reiner Theil's defensive game will be important again this weekend against the Wesmen after posting 11 rebounds in the Vikes' victory over Alberta. Theil will be one of the Vikes tasked with stopping the Wesmen offence that includes the likes of second-year guard Denzel Lynch-Blair, Pryce and Oirbans.
 
"A good start is key because it establishes an early sense of confidence," said Beaucamp, whose team is 6-0 when they lead after the first quarter. "You could tell that we weren't sharp for parts of our series against Alberta and on the road it can be a lot harder to chase a lead when your opponents have the crowd and momentum in their favour."
 
The weekend's games tip off on Jan. 22 at 6:00 p.m. and Jan. 23 at 2:00 p.m. at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg, Man. All games are streamed live with pay-per-view stats online at uvic.canadawest.tv. Free live stats are available at canadawest.org.