If defence and shooting win basketball championships, then the University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team just sent a message to the Fraser Valley Cascades and the rest of sa国际传媒 West that UVic is a title contender.
For the second straight night, the Vikes beat the fourth-ranked team in Canadian Interuniversity Sport with speedy, aggressive defence and lights-out shooting.
On Saturday night at the Envision Athletic Centre in Abbotsford, the Vikes shot 56 per cent and showed poise down the stretch to earn the 78-72 win. The unranked Vikes now sport a perfect 4-0 record.
The Cascades (2-2) put a scare into the Vikes with a late push, cutting the lead to four points with 31 seconds left, but four key free throws from fourth-year Vike Terrell Evans helped ice the win.
"Even when we had the big lead I didn't think we were very sharp so I was a little worried going into the second half," Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp said. "And they're a good team so you knew they were going to make a run sometime.
"But we got some stops at the end and were able to pull it out."
Evans and the Vikes came flying out of the gate and led by 19 at the half. Evans had 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter.
But the story of the game for the Vikes was the play of their big man, Chris McLaughlin. The 6-foot-10 centre had a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds and a key three-pointer in the final minute.
"Chris was solid all weekend and he really stepped it up tonight when he had to play a lot of minutes," Beaucamp said.
The Vikes now return home for a pair of games against Trinity Western, starting Friday at 8 p.m.
In the women's game, the Vikes started slow but came on in the fourth quarter to give the No. 2-ranked Cascades a scare before Fraser Valley prevailed 62-52.
Rookie forward Tessla Rennie from Red Lodge, Montana, was one rebound away from a double-double. Rennie finished the game with 15 points and nine rebounds.
The high-powered Cascades were led by the Wierks sisters - Sarah and Nicole. The veterans from Chilliwack had 14 points and five boards apiece to help Fraser Valley stay perfect on the season at 4-0.
The Vikes' record drops to 2-2.
UVic is back home Friday night to take on the Trinity Western Spartans. Tipoff is 6 p.m. ? In London, Ont., the UVic Vikes cross-country teams both finished fourth at the CIS national championships, although both the men's and women's teams were the top sa国际传媒 West teams.
Brittany Therrien was top finisher for the UVic women coming in 15th in the field of 123 runners, while Jenna Van Vliet was 23rd. Guelph won the over title on the women's side.
In the men's event, Dylan Haight finished ninth overall and second in the sa国际传媒 West portion, while fellow Vike Ryan Cassidy was ninth overall and third in sa国际传媒 West. Guelph was the men's overall winner.
