VICTORIA - The University of Victoria men's basketball team opened the 2023-24 season with a 122-87 win over the University of Calgary, Nov. 3 at CARSA Performance Gym.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Izzy Helman gave the Vikes their first lead of the night that they wouldn't relinquish, knocking down a three to open the scoring, 3-0.
• A layup from Griffin Arnatt gave the Vikes their largest lead of the first quarter, 25-17, before the first 10 minutes of play came to a close with Victoria in front, 31-26.
• Six points from Elias Raph on a free throw, dunk and three-pointer along with a Diego Maffia layup put the Vikes on a run to start the second quarter, extending their lead to 39-26 with just under eight minutes until halftime.
• Maffia put the Vikes up by 20 with a layup, 46-26, before Calgary embarked on a short run in attempt to close the scoring gap. After 20 minutes of action, the Vikes held a 63-47 lead over the Dinos with Ethan Boag nailing a floater at the buzzer.
• A three from Helman and jumper by Ralph put the Vikes on a quick 5-0 run to push UVic's lead back to 20, 73-53, with just over six minutes to play in the third.
• Holding an 88-61 lead at the end of the third quarter, the Vikes outscored the Dinos 34-26 in the final frame to complete the 122-87 win.

WORTH NOTING

• The Vikes registered 100+ points in a season-opener for the second time in three years, last doing so in 2021 in a 104-66 win over Trinity Western.
• Maffia led all Vikes scorers with 34 points in the win, also recording two rebounds and a team-high two assists in 25 minutes on the floor.
• Five additional Vikes finished with double-digit scoring nights in Ralph (17), Boag (16), Arnatt (15), Renoldo Robinson (14) and Helman (11).
• Arnatt led the Vikes in rebounds, grabbing eight in the win.
• The Vikes go 1-0 to start the season, while Calgary moves to 0-1 after the first game of the year.

UP NEXT
The Vikes and Dinos face off for a second time Saturday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. at CARSA Performance Gym.