VICTORIA – The University of Victoria men's basketball team never relinquished their lead in an 81-67 defeat of Brandon University, Feb. 3 at CARSA Performance Gym.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• A Brandon jumper opened the game scoring, but a three from Griffin Arnatt in the next Vikes possession made it 3-2 for UVic with 8:31 remaining in the opening frame.
• Back-to-back three's by Elias Ralph upped the Vikes' lead to 14-7 with 6:31 still on the clock in the first quarter.
• A 7-0 Brandon run pulled the visiting side within two, 19-17, with just under two minutes to go, but four points from Renoldo Robinson and an Ethan Boag jumper put the Vikes back up by six, 25-19, which would remain the score at the end of the first quarter.
• Continuing his perfect three-point shooting, Ralph shot his third and fourth-straight three's to initially give the Vikes a 10-point lead, 30-20, and eventually the 38-20 lead with 5:34 to go in the second quarter.
• Brandon took advantage of three-minute Vikes scoring drought, pulling within seven, 41-34, with 36 seconds until halftime.
• Shadynn Smid was able to put two more points on the board for the Vikes before the buzzer, bringing the halftime score to 43-34 in favour of the Vikes.
• Though the Vikes got the first points of the third quarter on a Ralph jumper, Brandon went on a run to cut the Vikes' lead to four, 45-41, with 5:45 to go in the quarter.
• Back-to-back three's by Diego Maffia gave UVic some breathing room back, bringing their lead up to 51-42 at the halfway point of the frame.
• Six-straight points by Robinson closed the third quarter scoring, putting the Vikes in front 64-53 heading in to the final 10 minutes of play.
• Holding their lead strong over the final quarter, back-to-back three's by Maffia finalized the score at 81-67 in favour of the Vikes.

WORTH NOTING

• Ralph and Maffia combined for 11 of the Vikes' 15 made three's, with Maffia tallying six and Ralph finishing with five.
• Maffia recorded a team-high 28 points along with a game-high eight assists in the win.
• Ralph posted his second-straight double-double performance with 22 points and 12 rebounds, also leading the Vikes in steals (3) and blocks (4).
• Robinson rounded out the double-digit scoring performances for Victoria with 16 points, also tallying six rebounds and one steal.
• The Vikes improve to 13-3 on the year with the win, while Brandon drops to 12-8 with the loss.

UP NEXT
The Vikes face MacEwan University for two games, Feb. 9-10, in Edmonton, Alta.