VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team sent their senior fifth years Reiner Theil, Mack Roth and Brandon Dunlop off the right way on Feb. 20 with a 90-74 defeat of the Brandon Bobcats in the final Canada West game of their varsity careers. The win ends the Vikes' 2015-16 season at 9-11, just outside the playoff picture, while Brandon finishes 1-19.

[BOX SCORE]
 
Roth led the charge for Victoria in his final game as a Vike scoring 23 points and four rebounds. Fellow senior Theil had a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds in his finale while Dunlop had eight points and eight rebounds. Justin Kinnear and Hassan Abdullahi had 13 and 12-point nights, respectively, for the Vikes.
 
On Brandon's side, Earl Thompson Jr. led all scorers on the court with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds. D.J. Jordan had 13 points and two rebounds while John Paul followed closely behind with 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
"I'm happy we saw our seniors off the right way tonight," said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp of his graduating players. "We're disappointed to be in this spot at the end of the season, but we finished on a positive and the win is a small consolation."
 
A Roth jumper and Justin Kinnear three-pointer put the Vikes ahead early 5-0 in the first quarter before the Bobcats answered with five of their own to tie it 5-5 off a three-pointer from Chris Stanhope and a jumper from Paul. A late dunk from rookie Vikes' guard Tyus Barfoot gave the Vikes a three-point lead heading into the second quarter 16-13.
 
Two of the eight points in the first half from Brandon's Paul cut the Vikes' lead midway through the second quarter to 28-24, but the strong start for third-year Vike Abdullahi continued when he put the Vikes ahead by double digits minutes later with two quick jumpers. The Vikes would lead by a dozen going into the second half, up 42-30 over Brandon.
 
Roth was the lead scorer on the court for the Vikes with 11 points in the first half in his final game for Victoria. Thompson Jr. was keeping the Bobcats in the game with 10 points and five rebounds through two frames.
 
The Vikes found themselves with their largest lead of 26 points midway through the third quarter after fourth-year Vike Grant Sitton hit a deep jumper to put the Vikes ahead 63-39. The Vikes fought for rebounds and were able to put seven points past the Bobcats off second chance plays.
 
The Bobcats could only get as close as 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Vikes continued their hot pace. The Vikes shot 17-for-34 in the second half (50.0 per cent) to help close the book on the night and the season with an eventual 90-74 win over Brandon.
 
The Vikes now enter the offseason after a disappointing season where the Vikes missed the playoffs for the first time since 2009-10 and only the third time under Beaucamp.
 
"We'll look closely at what we're going to do next year to rebound," said Beaucamp. "We'll make changes and flip everything, including personnel because we want to be vastly improved come next year."
 

Game Summary:

            1    2    3    4    F
BDN:   13  17  19  25  74
UVIC:  16  26  24  24  90

Scoring Summary:

BDN: Earl Thompson Jr. (25), D.J. Jordan (13), John Paul (12)
UVIC: Mack Roth (21), Justin Kinnear (13), Reiner Theil (13)