Vancouver, B.C. – The fourth-seeded University of Victoria men's basketball team will play for the U SPORTS Championship title following an 89-75 semifinal win over top-seeded University of Ottawa, March 14 at the University of British Columbia's Thunderbird Sports Centre.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Vikes take 23-10 lead after 10 minutes of play

• Though Ottawa scored the first basket of the game, the Vikes scored the next 19 points in the span the Gee-Gees only added a free throw to their scoreline, taking a 19-3 lead with 2:53 to go in the first quarter.
• A jumper from Shadynn Smid and layup by Geoffrey James put the final points of the first for the Vikes on the board, giving Victoria a 23-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Ottawa runs narrow deficit in second

• The Gee-Gees opened the second quarter on a run, pulling within three, 25-22, until a Griffin Arnatt layup and an Ethan Boag dunk put points back on the Vikes side of the scoreboard, 32-24, with 5:58 still on the clock before halftime.
• Another Ottawa push pulled the top seed back within three, 36-33, but three from James, Aaron Tesfagiorgis layup, and Sam Maillet layup outscored a single bucket from Ottawa for the 43-35 Vikes lead with 1:49 to go.
• A pair of Boag free throws followed by a James three in the final seconds of the frame gave Victoria a 48-37 lead at halftime.

Vikes outscore Gee-Gees in third, maintain double-digit lead through fourth to take the win

• Outscoring Ottawa 24-17 in the third quarter, a Maillet put-back at the buzzer sent the Vikes into the final quarter of play with a 72-54 advantage.
• A dunk from Smid opened the fourth quarter scoring, giving the Vikes a 20-point lead, 74-54, with nine minutes still to play.
• After a quick series of Gee-Gees buckets narrowed the Vikes' lead to 11, 78-67, a pair of Smid free throws followed by a Maillet three restored the Vikes lead to 16, 83-67, with four and a half minutes to go.
• Maintaining a double-digit lead for remainder of the frame, Victoria punched their ticket to the championship final by a score of 89-75.

FROM THE COURT – Head coach Murphy Burnatowski
"They're [Ottawa] a good team. We knew they weren't going to go down easy. They constantly kept making runs and putting pressure on us. I give them a lot of credit for that, but I also give a lot of credit to our guys on this big stage - against a good team it's easy to fold, and we were able to keep it going to close it out."

WORTH NOTING

• With the win, the Vikes will appear in their first national title game since the 2005-06 season.
• Geoffrey James was recognized as the player of the game following a team-leading 21-point performance. He added seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal in the win.
• Four additional Vikes finished with double-digit scoring performances in Shadynn Smid, who set a new season-high with 18 points, along with Sam Maillet (13), Ethan Boag (12), and Renoldo Robinson (11).
• Maillet completed the double-double effort with 10 rebounds, also tallying a team-high eight assists for the Vikes.
• The Vikes improve to 24-1 (20-0, 4-1) with the win.

UP NEXT
The Vikes will face the winner of the University of Calgary verus University of Prince Edward Island Sunday, March 16 at 1 p.m. for the U SPORTS title. Catch the action on CBC Sports.