It鈥檚 not quite March, but bring on the madness.
A large, raucous crowd Saturday night in McKinnon Gym dropped the curtain on the 2012-13 sa国际传媒 West basketball regular season with the home-court University of Victoria Vikes men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams closing out with victories against their great rivals from the University of sa国际传媒
The men鈥檚 Vikes (16-6) knocked off the nationally second-ranked Thunderbirds
(18-4) for the second night in a row with a 74-71 victory.
鈥淲e gained confidence [from Friday night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver in ending UBC鈥檚 12-game winning streak]. We know we can beat anybody. Everybody stepped up,鈥� said Brandon Dunlop, who dropped in 24 points for UVic on an emotional Saturday.
It was the final regular-season home game for departing Vikes players Dunlop, Michael Acheampong and Pierce Anderson.
鈥淲e have a great fan base in Victoria and that鈥檚 why I always wanted to play at UVic since I was a kid,鈥� said the Claremont Secondary graduate, who returned to finish off his Vikes career this season after taking three years off.
鈥淗ome court advantage is going to be huge for us in the first-round of the playoffs [when the Vikes host the 14-8 Manitoba Bisons in a best-of-three series beginning Friday at McKinnon Gym].鈥�
The competitive nature of the women鈥檚 sa国际传媒 West was evident as the Vikes moved to 16-6 and nationally top-10 ranked UBC fell to 17-5 after UVic鈥檚 64-56 victory Saturday at McKinnon to end the season. But even UVic鈥檚 strong record wasn鈥檛 enough to earn homecourt advantage in the first round of the female playoffs with the Vikes heading to Regina next weekend for a best-of-three series against the nationally third-ranked Cougars.
It was the final home game in the careers of Vikes Debbie Yeboah and Chelsea McMullen and they responded with monster games with five-year veteran Yeboah scoring a season-high 29 points and two-season Camosun transfer McMullen 20.
鈥淭onight will always be a big memory for me,鈥� said Yeboah, who ends her outstanding Vikes career with 1,435 career points.
鈥淚鈥檝e always loved playing here.鈥�
Yeboah hopes to play pro in Europe next season but not before finishing her Vikes career in style.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not done proving ourselves,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e want to prove a lot more in the post-season.鈥�
It was Shoot for the Cure night with both Vikes teams wearing pink in a breast cancer fund-raiser. A patch, bearing the initials KS, in honour of UVic coaching legend and cancer survivor Kathy Shields, adorned a corner of the singlets.
鈥淜athy was a great champion [eight CIS national women鈥檚 titles] and once a Vike, always a Vike. She鈥檚 part of our family,鈥� said Yeboah.
