His search for consistency, however, continues as the 3-7 sa国际传媒 West club continues its awkward schedule in Kelowna tonight and Saturday against the 2-10 UBC-Okanagan Heat.
Of their 10 conference games to date, seven have come on the road for the Vikes. Including this weekend, it will be 9-of-12.
The good news is six of their last eight will be at home.
鈥淭here is some truth to that,鈥� Beaucamp said of the consistency factor. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e had a weird schedule. It鈥檚 kind of crazy, to be honest. I can鈥檛 recall any year where we鈥檝e had this type of schedule.
鈥淥bviously, our record is not that great, but on the road, so far, we鈥檝e split every weekend and most times you鈥檙e happy with that. But all of them were Friday night wins where we haven鈥檛 performed very well the second night.鈥�
Like last weekend, which was a prime example of that lack of consistency.
After riding Grant Sitton鈥檚 30 points to a comfortable 86-76 Friday win at Thompson Rivers, the Vikes got off to a horrible start in Saturday鈥檚 78-71 loss. They did manage to cut into huge leads and actually tied it at 65-65 with a couple of minutes left, but fell short.
鈥淚 was happy with our resiliency and that we just didn鈥檛 roll over,鈥� said Beaucamp. 鈥淚 think we do need to be consistent. You鈥檝e had some really good performances and then we come out and not have the same performance the next night.
Asked what needs to improve, Beaucamp said: 鈥淒efence and rebounding have to continue to be staples of our game. We鈥檙e playing a lot more zone. We鈥檝e changed what we do defensively just because of the group I have right now.
鈥淲e have to get old real quick. We鈥檙e a young group right now. Out of our 11 guys, seven are in their first or second year. We have matured, but we have to continue to do that. Nobody really cares what year you鈥檙e in. We鈥檙e playing for wins 鈥� no one cares how young you are,鈥� he said.
As for coach Dani Sinclair鈥檚 women鈥檚 team, the Vikes look to build off their strong start to 2017.
The Vikes, 6-4, will meet the struggling Heat (2-10) at 6 tonight and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Victoria defeated Thompson Rivers 79-66 and 80-70 last week with better defensive efforts, while UBCO struggled in 76-38 and 80-60 losses to the No. 3-ranked Regina Cougars.
Sinclair鈥檚 Vikes, like the men, will have started the season with nine of 12 games on the road after these two.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e approached it in a good way,鈥� SInclair said of the schedule. 鈥淲e wanted to make a concerted effort to be better on the road, taking that professional approach to prepare and get into good routines. I鈥檝e been fairly happy with how we鈥檝e dealt with that.鈥�
It should continue this weekend as the Vikes are a perfect 8-0 in games against the Heat since the 2011-12 season.
