VICTORIA – Turning the ball over 17 times in the contest cost the UVic Vikes men's basketball team a chance at a win on the road in an 89-82 loss to the Brandon Bobcats on Nov. 3.
 
"The extra possessions that they got through a combination of turnovers and rebounds hurt us," said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp. "We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball, a lot of our turnovers or bad shots tonight turned into points at the other end."
 
Fourth-year guard Taylor Montgomery-Stinson led the team with 19 points in the game, going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Mason Loewen finished just one rebound shy of a double-double, putting up 16 points and nine rebounds in the contest while Jordan Charles chipped in with 14 points of his own.
 
A back and forth first half saw the Vikes holding a two-point lead after two quarters of play but in a conference as tight as the Canada West promises to be this year every point counts and Beaucamp thought his team could have been up by more.
 
"At the beginning of the game when we had a chance to capitalize on some of their mistakes we had a lot of easy baskets that we missed," said Beaucamp. "At that point we started rushing a little bit underneath the basket and missed some opportunities."
 
A nine-point advantage in the third quarter saw the Bobcats head into the final frame up by seven but the Vikes continued to battle down the stretch.
 
"There was a point in the third quarter where we made a few turnovers, they capitalized and that's where they got the separation," said Beaucamp.
 
A three-pointer from Charles cut the lead to three with just over three minutes left to play but that was as close as the Vikes would come.
 
Tyvon Cooper scored six of his game-high thirty points on free throws late in the game to ensure the outcome favoured the Bobcats.
 
"We struggled to contain them, they have a couple of guys that can really go off and we struggled especially to contain Cooper," said Beaucamp.
 
The Vikes will get the chance to leave Manitoba with a weekend split when these teams met again with a scheduled start time of 5 p.m.
 
  
SCORING SUMMARY
UVIC: 19-24-20-19: 82
BDN: 17-24-29-19: 89
 
SCORING LEADERS
UVIC: Taylor Montgomery-Stinson (19), Mason Loewen (16), Jordan Charles (14)
BDN: Tyvon Cooper (30), Pookie Saunders (18), John Paul (14)