The University of Victoria's (UVic) men's basketball team is not done yet. The team claimed third place in the Canada West tournament with a 97-85 win over the University of Manitoba Bisons, earning them a spot in the U Sports Final 8 where they'll compete for a national championship title.
"Huge win for us obviously, it was a must-win game to get to nationals. We weren't ready to be done yet," said fifth-year starter, Sam Maillle.
"We had a great week of practice coming in, and our focus was just getting back to who we are. We felt like we weren't ourselves last week, so just wanted to get back to that. I was proud of how we did that."
The Vikes entered the bronze-medal game on March 7 with a near-perfect record. Their only loss of the season came Feb. 28 against the University of Calgary during the Canada West semifinals.
The Vikes were forced to battle back to capture the bronze. The Bisons started strong, opening up a nine-point lead and ending the first quarter 30-25.
In a second-quarter push, the Vikes narrowly overtook the Bisons 41-40 following three pointers from Griffin Arnatt and Aaron Tesfagiorgis and three free throws from Renoldo Robisnon, before the Bisons rallied to take a 56-54 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The seesaw battle continued through the third quarter until a 12-3 run lifted the Vikes into the lead, closing out the quarter up 77-68.
The Bisons mounted a comeback in the fourth, pulling to within one score before layups from Robinson and Sam Maillle, along with a Tesfagiorgis three-pointer put the Vikes up 90-81 with less than two minutes remaining.
Shadynn Smid sealed the game with a final dunk cementing the 97-85 win and earning the Vikes a bronze medal and a place in the U SPORTS Final 8.
UVic will now enter the national tournament, hosted by the University of British Columbia, as the No. 4 seed, where they will square off against fifth-ranked Bishop's University on March 13.
