Vikes dominant in 97-74 semifinal win over Alberta

Recap provided by University of Victoria Sports Information

Victoria, BC – The No. 2 University of Victoria defeated the No. 3 University of Alberta 97-74 in the Canada West semi-finals, February 20, claiming the first spot in the Canada West finals.

Defence was king to start this ballgame; neither team was able to find much space on the offensive end. Ethan Boag led the first scoring surge for Victoria as he buried the first five points on a 14-4 Vikes' opening scoring run. Alberta responded to halt the scoring run, but Geoffrey James remained on fire from beyond the arc.

Ethan Egert pushed to get Alberta going on the offensive end, scoring two baskets, one from three-point land, for his five first-quarter points. The Vikes' strong shooting to open this game led to them establishing a 13-point 28-15 lead at the end of the first.

Victoria's hot shooting from beyond the arc cooled off to start the second quarter. Alberta capitalized on this scoring lull to tighten the game. Isaac Simon, the second team all-star, scored three baskets in a row, cutting the Vikes' lead to 28-24, forcing a timeout. Caiden Kushnir began to be a force inside the paint for the Golden Bears. He was creating second-chance scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates while getting to the line with his tough play under the basket.

Dylan Gage and Sergio Pereira came off the bench and created instant offence for Victoria. The pair scored nine consecutive points, re-establishing the Vikes on the offensive end of the floor. This scoring run pushed the lead back out to 13 points as the Vikes led 46-33 as the game hit halftime.

Victoria began the third just as they did the first, unstoppable at all levels on offence. Dylan Gage and Geoffrey James buried back-to-back threes to cap off a 16-4 Vikes' scoring run to start the second half. Victoria would not go away as Alberta fought hard to make a push back into the game. Sergio Pereira's interior defence continued to halt any paint presence the Golden Bears fought to create. Alberta's Isaac Simon continued to be a bright spot for the Golden Bears as his threes battled to close the scoring gap. Victoria won the quarter, closing with a 76-54 lead, built by their strong shooting and impactful defence.

The fourth quarter was played with both teams trading baskets, but Alberta was unable to piece together a run to narrow their deficit. Victoria emptied their bench and secured the 97-74 victory, claiming their spot in the Canada West finals.

"I was really proud of how we came out of the gates. We've been talking about having better starts. I think that was one of our best starts of the year. We kept the intensity even through some of Alberta's runs, which sometimes can be difficult. You've got to give a lot of credit to Alberta. They stayed, fairly with us, and didn't take their foot off the pedal. But I was just really proud of how our starters and our older guys locked in and then how our guys often came off the bench and continued to push."

The Vikes will await their opponent as Winnipeg and UBC faceoff tomorrow to decide who will claim the other spot in the Canada West finals. If the UBC Thunderbirds pull off the upset, the Championship game will be played on February 27 at CARSA Performance Gym. If Winnipeg comes out on top, the Championship will be played on the Wesmen's home floor.