Be it ever so humble 鈥� not that state-of-the-art CARSA Gym is anything near humble 鈥� there is no place like home.
The University of Victoria Vikes swept their two-game sa国际传媒 West men's basketball set against the Trinity Western Spartans with a 71-61 victory on Saturday night on Ken and Kathy Shields Court.
The Vikes, who started the conference season with seven of eight games on the road, moved to 4-6 while the Spartans fell to 0-10.
鈥淰ikes Nations puts on a good show here in CARSA and it was nice to finally be at home again,鈥� said fifth-year forward Jordan Charles, who led the Vikes with 22 points.
鈥淲e need to keep being consistent like we were this weekend.鈥�
The Spartans, however, seemed intent on proving winless is just a word. They made a game of it in the second half after trailing the Vikes 41-27 at the half. TWU got it to within 65-59 with 1:30 left. But a Mason Loewen follow-up basket and late trey by Brentwood College-graduate Charles sealed the deal.
鈥淭rinity wouldn鈥檛 go away. But we鈥檝e got to be better than that,鈥� said Loewen, a graduate of Claremont Secondary.
鈥淲e need to be better defensively than we were in the second half.鈥�
The Vikes鈥� upcoming bye week abuts the Christmas break, so UVic does not return to conference play until the new year.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I鈥檝e ever started a season with seven of eight games on the road,鈥� Loewen said, who scored 12 points, while point-guard Scott Kellum added 10.
鈥淣ow most of our games will be at home, so I think we鈥檙e in a good spot heading into the break, and will be good heading into the home stretch in the new year if we continue to win our home games.鈥�
WOMEN鈥橲 HOOPS: Home cooking at CARSA wasn鈥檛 as kind to the UVic Vikes female squad. Sarah Buckingham hit on three-of-four treys on a 25-point night to fuel the Spartans鈥� 71-62 victory over the Vikes as the teams split their two-game weekend set with TWU going to 7-3 and the Vikes falling to 6-4. Ashlyn Day led UVic with 14 points while Katie Langdon added 13 and Aleah Ashlee 11 as the Vikes shot only 33 per cent from the field.
MEN鈥橲 RUGBY: The UVic Vikes meet Concordia in the U Sports national bronze-medal game at 11 a.m. today, while defending-champion UBC Thunderbirds play the Queen鈥檚 Golden Gaels in the gold-medal final at 1 p.m., both at Centennial Stadium.
