Braedan Willis, Vikes Communications

VICTORIA- The University of Victoria Vikes defeated the Trinity Western Spartans for the second-consecutive night by a score of 71-61 on Nov. 24 at the CARSA Performance Gym in Victoria, B.C. Besides an early 3-0 lead for the Spartans, the Vikes never relinquished the lead. However, the Spartans made a push down just six points with two minutes on the clock but couldn't complete the comeback. 

"They fought back and I thought for the most part we answered the bell," commented Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp. "We were up 21 with five minutes left in the third and then we just stopped moving the ball a bit and had a couple of ill-advised three. Our shot selection was maybe not as good as it needed to be and then they made a couple plays and when that happened they got confident. The good news is that we only gave up 34 points in the second half and any time you hold the other team under 70 you always have a chance to win but it was really the offensive side that we struggled."

With the win the Vikes improve to a 4-6 record while the Spartans remain winless at 0-10.

"After last nights game we knew we had to defend the three point line a lot better and I think we did that tonight," said Spartans head coach Aaron Muhic, who is in his fourth season leading Trinity Western. "We needed to execute better on a couple of key plays but Josiah Meppelink and Vartan Tanielian had excellent games for us. Both of them defended very well and were tough to play against all night."

The Vikes started the game by taking a 20-11 lead by the end of the opening quarter. Led by fifth-year Jordan Charles with five, the Vikes got points from 8 different players in the first quarter to help take the early lead. 

Charles kept up the offence for the Vikes in the second quarter, adding eight more points to his stat line and leading Victoria at the half. Through two quarters, second-year guard Scott Kellum had dropped four of his seven field goal attempts to help the Vikes carry a 41-27 lead heading to the locker room. Vartan Tanielian and Ethan DaSilva who each had logged five points at the break led the Spartans. 

Trinity Western outscored the Vikes in the last two quarters 34-30 but were unable to generate enough offense to take over the game. Tanielian would finish the game with a team-high 14 points. Charles finished as the Vikes leader in points with 22. 

Both teams now head into the holiday break with their seasons starting up again in January. On Jan. 4 the Vikes will host the Regina Cougars and the Spartans will be at home to the Winnipeg Wesmen. All games can be watched live on at https://cw.yaretv.com.

SCORING SUMMARY
             1          2          3          4:         F         
VIC:     20        21        16      14:       71
TWU:   11        16         20      14:       61
 
SCORING LEADERS

VIC: Jordan Charles (22), Mason Loewen (12), Scott Kellum (10)

TWU: Vartan Tanielian (14), Josiah Meppelink (12), Ethan DaSilva (9)