VICTORIA- The University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team won 88-83 over the visiting Laval Rouge et Or in pre-season exhibition on Oct. 3 at the CARSA Performance Gym.
 
Fifth-year Jordan Charles once again led the Vikes in scoring, posting a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jesse Barnes and Mason Loewen chipped in with 16 and 15 points respectively. 
 
"Jordan and Mason both hit some important shots for us tonight," said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp. " We played with energy, moved the play well and did some positive things on the offensive side of the ball."
 
Nicolas Begin was the top scorer on the night for the Laval Rouge et Or. Begin scored a game high 29 points and was 50 percent shooting beyond the arch with four three pointers.
 
Victoria and Laval went basket-for-basket through the majority of the opening quarter. Taylor Montgomery-Stinson drained a three with just over one minute left to even the game up,18-18, but Laval carried a narrow 24-22 advantage heading into the second quarter. 
 
The Vikes were able to secure their first lead of the game thanks to a Kellum three-pointer and that put the Vikes up 35-33 half way. Victoria put away some key free throws after a run of Laval to hold a 44-38 lead by the half time break.  
 
The Vikes began the third quarter with a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 51-38. The home side caught the Rouge et Or off guard with their speed up the court. Vikes guard Mason Loewen, dressing in his first pre-season match this year, showed his quickness and agility to generate a bulk of the Vikes' offence in the third.  
 
Laval clawed their way back to within one point late in the fourth before Charles and Kellum drained back-to-back three pointers to extend the Vikes' lead to 87-80. Laval did well to sink a couple of late free throws but the Vikes came away with the victory with a final score of 88-83.
 
Up next, the Vikes will head to Ontario for exhibition games against Concordia, Carleton and Guelph from Oct. 12-14 to wrap up their pre-season schedule. The Vikes' first regular season home game will be on Nov. 1 against the UBC Thunderbirds. For full schedules visit govikesgo.com/mbb.
 
 
SCORING SUMMARY
             1          2          3          4:         F         
LAV:    24        14        21       24:       83
VIC:     22        22       22       22:       88
 
SCORING LEADERS
LAV: Nicolas Begin (29), Vladimir Thomas (15), Yoann Folquet (14)
VIC: Jordan Charles (22), Jesse Barnes (16), Mason Loewen (15)