For the ninth time in the history of the school, the University of Victoria Vikes have won the Canadian University Men’s Basketball Championships. On Sunday at the University of British Columbia War Memorial Gymnasium from the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sport Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Vikes defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 82-53 in the championship final.
Guard Renoldo Robinson of Montreal, Quebec led the Vikes with 24 points. Three more Vikes reached double digits in points. Guard Geoffrey James of Edmonton, Alberta had 17 points off the bench, forward Ethan Boag of Victoria, British Columbia had 12 points, and forward Shaddyn Smid of Cowichan, British Columbia had 11 points. Smid also led the Vikes with 17 rebounds.
The Vikes were the fourth seed heading into the national championship, and upset a Dinos team ranked number two. In the final. the Vikes won every quarter, as they won 18-6 in the first quarter, 22-17 in the second quarter, 25-19 in the third quarter, and 17-11 in the fourth quarter. A key statistic in the final was the fact that the Dinos committed 18 turnovers as a team, while the Vikes only had eight.
In addition to beating the Dinos, Victoria beat Bishop’s 85-73 in the first round of the championship bracket on Thursday, and Ottawa 89-75 in the semifinals on Friday. Samuel Maillet of Moncton, New Brunswick was named the tournament’s most valuable player despite only scoring nine points in the final against the Dinos. He had 18 points against Bishop’s (led the team alongside Robinson), and a double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) against Ottawa.
By winning the Canadian national university men’s basketball championship, the Vikes won the W.P. McGee Trophy. They previously won in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1997. Victoria’s nine titles are the second most all-time. The Carleton University Ravens lead the way with 17 titles.
