The University of Victoria Vikes men’s basketball team killed two birds with one dribble Friday night. The Vikes defeated the Regina Cougars 74-62 in the sa国际传媒 West semifinals in Edmonton to not only advance to the conference final tonight, but also to the U Sports national championship tournament for the first time since 2015.
The nationally No. 2-ranked Alberta Golden Bears (16-0 in the regular season 2-0 in the playoffs) defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies (11-5 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs) 90-74 in the other conference semifinal.
With the national championships being held in Edmonton, the Golden Bears are automatically qualified as hosts. So that means UVic, even if it loses to Alberta tonight in the final, will go to the national tournament April 1-3 representing the conference.
The Vikes denied the Cougars (12-4 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs) a chance at their first conference crown. Regina, making its first appearance in the semifinals since 2006, fell behind early as the Vikes’ stifling defence held Regina to just 27.5 per cent shooting from the floor.
It is a fitting run to end the standout career of graduating UVic fifth-year guard Scott Kellum, who was runner-up to Tyus Jefferson of the Golden Bears as sa国际传媒 West MVP. Kellum led the Vikes with 22 points against Regina while sophomore backcourt-mate and steely outside-threat Diego Maffia hit five treys and finished with 20 points.
The emerging six-foot-eight Vikes guard Elias Ralph was named the conference’s top rookie.
“Scott is all you want in a veteran team leader, and Elias was fearless and calm as a rookie with such a bright future ahead of him,” said head coach Craig Beaucamp, heading into Friday’s late-finishing game.
“We have such a blend of veterans and younger players with talent and that is reflected throughout our roster.”
UVic, ranked No. 3 in sa国际传媒, was 17-1 in the regular season and defeated the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 79-55 in the sa国际传媒 West playoff quarter-finals two weeks ago.
The Cougars and Huskies meet in the third-place game tonight.
