Edmonton, Alta. – The University of Victoria men's basketball team bounced back to defeat McGill University, 77-68, in the consolation semifinals at the U SPORTS Final 8 presented by Westin Edmonton, April 2.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Quarter – UVic 20, McGill 13

• McGill was the first to put two points on the board, taking a 2-0 lead at 9:26.
• However, Scott Kellum quickly gave the Vikes the lead, knocking down two-straight three's for the 6-3 Vikes lead with 8:47 on the clock.
• Completing a 10-0 Vikes run, Aaron Tesfagiorgis and Dominick Oliveri added layups for the 10-2 Vikes lead at the 7:30 mark.
• Making it a two-point game, two three's from McGill resulted in a 10-8 Vikes lead with 5:54 on the clock.
• Quickly putting an end to the run, an Elias Ralph jumper and Ethan Boag put-back pushed the Vikes' lead back to six, 14-8, with 4:57 to play.
• Five-straight Redbirds points made it a one-point game, 14-13, with 3:34 to go.
• After two scoreless minutes from both sides, Diego Maffia drained a three, making it a 17-13 Vikes advantage with 1:24 on the clock.
• Adding a three with 30 seconds left in the quarter, Elias Ralph gave the Vikes the 20-13 lead after the first quarter.

2nd Quarter – UVic 39, McGill 29

• Ellis put the first two points of the quarter on the board, but was quickly met with five-straight from the Redbirds to make it a 22-18 game in favour of the Vikes with 8:52 to go.
• Notching his first points of the night, Jason Scully hit a three with eight minutes to go for the 25-18 Vikes lead.
• After McGill pulled themselves within three, 30-27, with just over four minutes to play, Ralph scored a layup and three in consecutive possessions for an eight-point Vikes lead, 35-27, with 2:03 to go.
• An alley-oop by Ralph to Sergio Pereira gave the Vikes a 10-point, 39-29 lead at halftime.

3rd Quarter – UVic 56, McGill 51

• An Ellis bucket, Tesfagiorgis layup and Kellum jumper opened the second-half scoring, putting the Vikes ahead, 45-31 with 7:14 to go.
• McGill would go on the offensive, pulling within two, 49-47, with 3:36 to go.
• An Oliveri layup and Pereira dunk made it a six-point game, 53-47, but were met with four-straight Redbirds points to make it 53-51 with 42 seconds to go.
• A free throw from Pereira and Boag put-back on the second shot miss gave the Vikes a five-point cushion, 56-51, at the end of the third.

4th Quarter – UVic 77, McGill 68

• After a back-and-forth start the fourth quarter, McGill scored four unanswered points to cut the Vikes' lead to two, 63-61, with 5:14 to play.
• However, a Kellum free throw and Ellis fastbreak layup regrew UVic's lead to five, 66-61, with 4:33 to play.
• A layup from the Redbirds made it a three-point game, but two three's from Maffia in response upped the Vikes' lead to nine, 72-63, with 2:38 on the clock.
• Five points from Kellum via free throws marked the final Vikes' points of the afternoon and sealed the 77-68 win.

WORTH NOTING

• Kellum was named the U SPORTS Nike Top Performer of the Game after his 17-point, two-rebound, six-assist showing.
• Ellis added 15 points, four rebounds, two assists in the win, while Maffia was close behind with 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
• Ralph finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists for the Vikes.
• The Vikes improved to 48.3% (29-of-60) shooting after a 37.8% performance one night ago.
• Victoria moves to 21-2 on the season, improving to 1-1 at the U SPORTS Final 8 tournament this season with the win.

UP NEXT
The Vikes will take on Dalhousie in the fifth place consolation final game tomorrow, April 3 at 1 p.m. MT.