Tale of the Weekend
VICTORIA – After a miraculous finish to regular season play, the UVic Vikes men's basketball team will get the chance to keep the upsets rolling when they play the Lethbridge Pronghorns in the first round of the Canada West playoffs on February 17-19.
Both the Friday and Saturday games will get underway at 6 p.m. with the potential third game of the best-of-three series set to take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The Vikes finished the regular season with a record of 9-11, earning them the No. 11 seed in the playoffs. Lethbridge went 13-7 in the regular season and are the No. 6 seed in the conference.
The winner of this weekend's best-of-three series earns a trip to Edmonton, where they will play the University of Alberta Golden Bears in the quarter-finals.
The series will be a rematch, as the two teams played a pair of games in late January. It was the Pronghorns that emerged victorious in both of those games, winning by scores of 76-58 and 94-81.
"They were pretty good on both sides the ball, they rebound the ball hard," said Vikes head coach
Craig Beaucamp. "We had a tough time matching up with them defensively and they were able to expose us a little bit."
Despite the losses there is some room for optimism for the Vikes, the second game between the teams was a much closer contest with the Vikes holding a lead at half before the Pronghorns offence caught fire in the comeback victory.
"We are going to have to go out and be better defensively then we were the first time around and get off to a good start on the offensive side of the ball," said Beaucamp.
Last Time Out
It was a weekend to remember for the Vikes as they picked up a much-needed sweep of the Winnipeg Wesmen to ensure they booked themselves a spot in the playoffs.
An 86-78 win on Friday night would have been for nought after results came in from around the league, bumping the Vikes out of the playoffs if they couldn't pick up a win on Saturday. Trailing by four points with 34 seconds left to play fifth-year Vike
Grant Sitton scored five points and had a huge block to secure the 79-78 win.
"Last weekend there were some good things, we played well together," said Beaucamp. "We looked unified and were playing for each other, those are obviously good things at any time but particularly at this time of year."
Lethbridge finished the season with some drama of their own, earning a split with the Alberta Golden Bears thanks to a 96-94 victory in double overtime.
By the Numbers
65: The number of steals Dejon Burdeaux recorded during the season, the most in Canada West.
7: After recording just two wins in the first half of the season, the Vikes won seven of their last 12 to storm into the playoffs.
19.3: The number of points per game Sitton scored during the regular season, third-highest in the conference.
Coach's Take
Craig Beaucamp, Vikes head coach
"They did a pretty good job when they were out here but it will certainly help seeing them a couple times in how we matched up and what we have to fix going into the series against them."
"Nothing crazy as far as what changes or adjustments we have to make but we are going to do a couple little things. Overall we have played pretty good ball over the last two or three weekends and we just have to continue that."
"Every weekend was a must-win situation for us, so mentally we are kind of used to that and last weekend was a playoff weekend where we didn't even have the luxury of going to a third game. I don't know how much of an advantage that is, but I guess we are used to playing in pressure situations to some degree."
Game Information
Friday, Feb. 17 – 6:00 p.m. – @ Lethbridge Pronghorns, 1st Choice Savings Centre, Lethbridge AB
Watch live on canadawest.tv
Saturday, Feb. 18 – 6:00 p.m. – @ Lethbridge Pronghorns, 1st Choice Savings Centre, Lethbridge AB
Watch live on canadawest.tv
GAME THREE IF NECESSARY
Saturday, Feb. 19 – 2:00 p.m. – @ Lethbridge Pronghorns, 1st Choice Savings Centre, Lethbridge AB
Watch live on canadawest.tv
Lethbridge Pronghorns (12-7)
U Sports National Ranking: N/A
Canada West Standings: 6
RPI: 0.5048
Last Week: 0-1
Streak: L 1
Last Canada West Title: 1985-86
Last CIS Title: N/A
