Kelowna, B.C. – The top-ranked team in U SPORTS in the University of Victoria men's basketball team finished the 2024-25 Canada West season with a 102-84 win at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, Feb. 15, marking an undefeated season for the Vikes.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Vikes jump to 20-point lead in first half

• Two Ryan Gallagher jumpers and one from Sergio Pereira gave the Vikes a five-point lead, 11-6, four minutes into the first quarter.
• Aaron Tesfagiorgis' jumper landed for the Vikes in the final seconds of the frame gave the Vikes a 25-19 lead at the end of the first.
• Sam Maillet and Pereira jumpers in the second gave the Vikes a 10-point lead, 34-23, with 6:10 to play until halftime.
• Renoldo Robinson's three-pointer with 2:17 left in the second gave the Vikes a 20-point advantage, 49-29.
• Maintaining their lead over the final minutes of the second, the Vikes took a 56-33 lead into halftime.

Vikes close out win in second half

• Outscoring UBCO 27-21 in the third quarter, the Vikes extended their lead to 83-54 on a Gallagher jumper in the final seconds of the frame.
• Though UBCO outscored the Vikes 30-19 in the fourth, the Vikes' lead was wide enough to absorb the difference and resulted in a 102-84 win for Victoria.

Burnatowski leads Vikes to fourth undefeated conference season in program history

• In his first year at the helm of the Vikes men's basketball program, Murphy Burnatowski led the Vikes to a 20-0 Canada West season, marking the fourth undefeated conference season in program history. The previous three all came under the legendary Ken Shields: 1979-80, 1982-83 and 1983-84.
• In addition, Burnatowski becomes the first coach in U SPORTS men's basketball since Doug Daigneault (Concordia) and Ed Hall (Saint Mary's) in 1975-76 to guide their team to an undefeated conference season in their first year with the program. 
• Read more here.

WORTH NOTING

• Ryan Gallagher and Renoldo Robinson led the Vikes in scoring, each finishing with 18 points in the win.
• Sergio Pereira finished with a double-double for the second-straight night, tallying 10 points and set a new career-high with 15 rebounds.
• Geoffrey James notched 14 points, Dylan Gage finished with 12, and Sam Maillet and Aaron Tesfagiorgis each finished with 10, respectively, for the Vikes.
• The No. 1-ranked Vikes finish the Canada West season with a 20-0 record, and as the only undefeated team in both U SPORTS and Canada West play.

UP NEXT
The Vikes host the opening rounds of the Canada West playoffs, Feb. 21-22 at CARSA Performance Gym. Get your tickets here or catch the game on Canada West TV.