From the dynamism of Robbie Parris to the court artistry of the late two-time Olympian Eli Pasquale — whose career inspired an impressionable kid named Steve Nash — the University of Victoria has produced some notable point guards.
Scott Kellum can write his name on that list as he has moved to the verge of the team record for career three-points made with 203, one behind Ryan MacKinnon’s record 204.
Kellum went three-for-10 in trey attempts in Saturday night’s 94-57 UVic victory over the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in sa国际传媒 West play at CARSA Gym as the Vikes extended their winning streak to 11 games. Kellum, whose play is so seamless and intuitive, is pretty much assured to break the record over the last five regular-season games of his five-season UVic career.
“It was in the back of my mind. I had the chances but the three-points wouldn’t drop for me tonight,” said Kellum, who still had a team second-best 17 points behind forward Ethan Boag’s 18.
“I would have loved to have gotten it tonight but it’s about the team first. And we were locked in, especially on defence.”
Kellum has climbed to seventh on the Vikes career scoring list with 1,206 points in 91 games. The record is held by Spencer McKay at 1,657 points, with Olympian Eric Hinrichsen second at 1,586, and is out reach but Kellum will comfortably tuck himself into the team all-time top-10.
“I’ve had a lot of teammates around me who helped me get there,” said Kellum, who is from Issaquah, Washington.
Kellum and forwards Matt Ellis and Jason Scully were honoured before the game as graduating fifth-year players on Seniors Night.
“Scott has been a mentor to me,” said sophomore guard Diego Maffia, who will inherit the UVic backcourt mantle from Kellum.
“His play is so crisp and calm and he never gets rattled or loses his cool and I learned a lot from that.”
Vikes forward and sa国际传媒 Under-19 camp invitee Boag added: “Scott [Kellum] brings a unique set of leadership skills to this group. It was a good atmosphere out there tonight and an emotional start to the game with Seniors Night.”
The Vikes, ranked in the U Sports national top-10 poll, moved to 12-1 while the Cascades fell to 9-7.
In the women’s sa国际传媒 West game played earlier in CARSA Gym, the host Vikes (9-5) were outpaced 68-54 by a very good Fraser Valley squad (12-2) in having their seven-game winning streak halted.
“We were out of synch and couldn’t get things going,” said Vikes head coach Carrie Watts.
“Their physicality ground us down, but I am confident in our ability to play against them [Cascades].”
Forward Ashlyn Day led UVic with 21 points while shooting-guard Calli McMillan scored 16.
McMillan and Aleah Ashlee, solid performers over five seasons in CARSA Gym, were the graduating players honoured before the game.
