CLEVE DHEENSAW
sa国际传媒
One of the great rivalries in Canadian university basketball, through both a current and historic lens, takes place this week with the University of Victoria Vikes hosting the UBC Thunderbirds tonight on Ken and Kathy Shields Court at CARSA gym before the cross-strait return engagement Saturday at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.
The men’s game tonight at 8 p.m. features the U Sports second-ranked Vikes (3-1) against the fifth-ranked Thunderbirds (4-2). It wouldn’t matter if it was No. 42 versus No. 45, this rivalry week would still be hot and contentious.
“It wouldn’t matter where the teams were in the national rankings or conference standings, this is a historic rivalry,” said UVic head coach Craig Beaucamp.
“With all the new teams added to sa国际传媒 West, you don’t get them as much anymore.”
The match-up features UVic Vikes shooting guard and defending sa国际传媒 West MVP and U Sports scoring champion Diego Maffia against dominant UBC forward Brian Wallack. They were teammates over the summer in the professional Canadian Elite Basketball League with the Vancouver Bandits in a program, much like that in the pro soccer Canadian Premier League, in which U Sports players can be drafted and play pro in the summer without losing their university eligibility. Former Oak Bay Secondary star Maffia, in his fourth season inside Ring Road, was selected in the first round by the Bandits in the 2023 CEBL-U Sports draft, and former Semiahmoo Secondary player Wallack, in his fifth season at Point Grey, was selected in the second round.
“We knew each other through Team sa国际传媒 and [Wallack] and I became closer this summer through playing pro with the Bandits,” said Maffia.
“[Wallack] is having a good season. It will be fun to compete against him again. We’ve had some good battles. The first couple of years, UBC got the best of us. The last few seasons, we’ve had the advantage. But it doesn’t matter the standings or national rankings, it’s UVic versus UBC, and that’s always a fun atmosphere.”
Maffia leads sa国际传媒 West in scoring with a scorching 32.3 points-per-game average and Wallack is fourth in conference scoring with a 21.2 points per game.
“Playing pro over the summer helped me to become a lot quicker, smarter and better overall. I feel quicker and am seeing the game with a different perspective,” said Maffia.
Wallack too has elevated his game and has been a load to handle this season in the middle for UBC.
“The best players in U Sports have aspirations to play professionally,” said Beaucamp, who was assistant coach over the summer in the 2023 FIBA U-19 World Cup in Hungary with the Canadian team that contained NCAA players and several likely future NBAers.
“It helps going to the CEBL as a U Sports player, where suddenly you are not the best player on the team by a mile, and you are getting pushed. It opens your eyes and that’s when there will be growth.”
Meanwhile, the UVic women (0-4) will be looking to get in the win column in tonight’s sa国际传媒 West game against UBC (4-2) at 6 p.m. at CARSA. Six-foot-four, third-year forward Abigail Becker from Parksville is leading UVic with 58 points in four games with rookie Makena Anderson out of St. Michaels University School on 35 points and veteran guard and Claremont Secondary-graduate Sierra Reisig with 31 points.
“Abigail [Becker] is establishing herself as an inside presence and demanding the ball and Makena [Anderson] is growing and learning every day,” said UVic head coach Carrie Watts.
“We’ve had a tough start to the season facing two top-10 teams. We’re looking to establish consistency and get on track. This is a big rivalry and there are lots of motivators.”
This rivalry is also personal for Watts. She played for UBC and graduated to the Canadian national team to play at the Pan Am Games and FIBA world championships, before becoming UBC assistant coach to head coach and Olympian Deb Huband from 2007 to 2021, when Watts was named UVic head coach.
