Victoria, B.C. – The #1 seeded University of Victoria (20-0, 1-0) continued their undefeated season with a 106-84 win over the #9 University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (9-11, 1-1), Feb. 22, in the quarterfinal round of the Canada West playoffs at CARSA Performance Gym.
"UFV came to play," said Vikes head coach Murphy Burnatowski of the matchup. "Obviously we got up a little bit, but they didn't let us get out of the danger zone. They fought back- they're physical, they're big, and play super hard. The second you relax against them, they're going to make you pay. Credit to them, it was close for most of the game and we were able to pull away a little bit at the end."
Ethan Boag was the top point-getter for the Vikes, leading the team with 19 points in the win. Five additional Vikes finished with double-digit point totals: Renoldo Robinson, Dylan Gage, and Griffin Arnatt with 14 points each, and Sam Maillet and Aaron Tesfagiorgis at 13 points each.
In what ends up as his final Canada West game,
Takeshi Croke led UFV with a Canada West career-high 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Fraser Valley head coach
Joe Enevoldson noted his importance after the game. "In Victoria, in his hometown, to go six for six from three – really the difference in the game was when he got in a bit of foul trouble and we had to pull him with three. In that short spurt we missed his leadership, his calmness, we just missed him. He was outstanding."
Fraser Valley put the first points of the game on the board, taking a quick 4-0 lead on jumpers from
Clay Kurtz and
Ismael Hernandez in the first minute of play. UFV grew its lead to eight, 25-17, on an
Uyi Ologhola layup at the 2:35 mark of the first frame. Not going down quietly, Victoria outscored the Cascades 9-2 over the final minutes, capped by an Arnatt layup at the buzzer to bring the score to 27-26 in favour of Fraser Valley at the end of the first quarter.
The Vikes' momentum continued into the second quarter, taking the lead on a Boag layup, 33-31, with 5:36 remaining until halftime. Taking advantage of a scoring drought by UFV, the Vikes added 10 more points to their lead to take a 43-31 lead until a pair of free throws by Ologhola added points back on the board for the Cascades with 3:31 to play. Ultimately, the Vikes outscored the Cascades 27-9 in the second frame to take a 53-36 lead into the break.
Victoria's lead reached 20 on Geoffrey James three-pointer in the opening minute of the third quarter, 58-38. However, the Cascades would remain undeterred, using a run ending with back-to-back three's from Croke and
Dario Lopez to pull within eight, 63-55, with 5:05 to go in the third. A three-pointer by the Vikes' Tesfagiorgis restored the home side's double digit lead, 70-59, which hold for the final three minutes of the third quarter to send the game into the fourth quarter with the Vikes ahead 80-67.
The Vikes would not let up in the final quarter of the game, outscoring the Cascades 26-17 to seal their win by a score of 106-84.
"They're the #1 team in the country for a reason," began Enevoldson. "They have so many weapons that you have to play near-flawless basketball, and even then it may not be good enough. Our guys gave it their all, and I'm proud of them and the way they hung around."
"It was a great group of people," Enevoldson noted when reflecting on the Cascades season. "The future is very bright. I think the guys in the room are what makes the experience, and I think they all had a great experience. Moving forward the culture and the tone has been set for who we are, and what we are going to look like as a program."
The Vikes will now host the University of Calgary in the Canada West semifinals Friday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at CARSA Performance Gym. Catch the action on Canada West TV presented by BioSteel.
