Deadly outside shooting and airtight defence proved an overwhelming combination for the Victoria Vikes on Friday, as they topped the University of the Fraser Valley men's basketball team 107-67 at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Vikes shot a scorching 54.8 per cent (17-for-31) from three-point range, with Diego Maffia leading the charge – he drained six triples, all in the first half, en route to a game-high 26 points. UVic's length also gave the Cascades problems, as they limited the hosts to 35.6 per cent shooting from the field.
The Cascades (9-8) and Vikes (13-1) clash again on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the UFV Athletic Centre, in the regular-season finale for UFV. Graduating athletes
Vick Toor and
Jordyn Sekhon will be honoured in a postgame Senior Day ceremony.
"That's a team that could compete for a national championship, and probably will," Cascades head coach
Joe Enevoldson said of the Vikes.
"When they shoot 17-for-31 from three, and from multiple people, they're as good as any team in the country. In order to compete with the best teams in the country, you've got to bring your A-plus game, and we definitely didn't tonight. We had a great week of practice, but it just didn't translate. They hit shots, and we did not."
The Cascades hung with the Vikes early – they were within 18-16 after
Kyle Claggett swung the ball to a wide-open
Jake Willemsen for a three-pointer. But the visitors took over at that point – they reeled off an 29-0 run bridging the first and second quarters, with tough defence leading to highly efficient offence.
Maffia had his fingerprints all over the game-changing run – he went 6-for-10 from beyond the arc on his way to 22 first-half points, and Victoria led 56-22 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
It was more of the same in the second half, and the Vikes ended the game with five players – Maffia, Justin McChesney, Ethan Boag, Elias Ralph, and Scott Kellum – with multiple three-pointers.
Jamar Ergas's 14 points paced the Cascades, and Toor contributed 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Dario Lopez added nine points, and fellow rookie forward Mattias Klim gave UFV a lift in the second half, posting six points, five rebounds and a block.
"I thought Matty was fantastic – despite playing limited minutes all second semester, he was ready to go tonight," Enevoldson said. "To be thrown out there against one of the top teams in Canada West, kudos to him – he performed. He's really progressed."
Ralph (14 points), McChesney (11), Kellum (11) and Matthew Ellis (10) were the Vikes' double-digits scorers, and Kellum added eight assists.
