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UVic Vikes basketball teams look to heat up for stretch run

With just six games remaining in the Canada West season and having battled through the toughest portion of their schedule and just matchups against three teams below them in the standings remaining, this is no time to let up on home floor.

With just six games remaining in the Canada West season and having battled through the toughest portion of their schedule and just matchups against three teams below them in the standings remaining, this is no time to let up on home floor.

That message was made perfectly clear this week by University of Victoria Vikes women’s head coach Dani Sinclair, whose 7-7 team has eyes firmly set ahead of them in the standings, not behind.

“Although we’re playing teams below us in the standings, the way this league is this year, you just never know,” Sinclair said of the weekend set against the 4-10 Lethbridge Pronghorns, beginning tonight at 6 and carrying through Saturday at 5 p.m. at McKinnon Gym.

The 10-4 Vikes men will follow with 8 p.m. and 7 p.m. starts, respectively, against 6-8 Lethbridge.

“The plan is not to compare yourself [standings wise] to other teams, but to compare your own team to where you are,” said Sinclair, who obviously wants her team to be better and believes they let one get away last weekend in Calgary.

After taking Game 1 71-60, the Vikes dropped a 62-51 result the next night to a team they are trying to catch (the Dinos are 9-6).

“We took care of business on Friday and then there was a tendency to relax a little and that played a part of it,” Sinclair said.

The Vikes are also on the heels of 8-6 Winnipeg and chasing 12-4 Regina and 11-4 Alberta.

“Some of those teams still have tough schedules and we’re trying to make up ground,” said Sinclair, whose team also faces Brandon (3-13) and Trinity Western (4-10) in the last two weekends of the schedule. “But you don’t want to look too far ahead because of the playoff format.”

The top seven in the Pioneer Division (which includes the Vikes) advance to post-season play, as do the top three in the Explorer Division. That will all shake itself out in the coming weeks, but right now Victoria sits seventh.

“Last Saturday was pretty tough and we’re in need of a bounce-back,” said Sinclair, who was then asked what needed to be improved on from that defeat?

“It’s pretty easy — we got out-rebounded by almost 20,” she stressed. “We also shot almost 50 per cent from the free-throw line. We missed some pretty easy stuff.”

Meanwhile, the Vikes men are obviously in a more settled playoff position, but coach Craig Beaucamp wants his team to be anything but comfortable when they hit the home floor for the second last time this regular season.

Currently tied for second with Saskatchewan at 10-4 (behind Calgary at 11-4), the Vikes face Lethbridge (6-8), Brandon (1-15) and Trinity Western (1-13).

“All these remaining games are dangerous in that way. Lethbridge has been in some very competitive games and they’re an older team, too,” said Beaucamp. “They match up well with us, they’re skilled and their guard play is very good.”

Lethbridge is led by Brandon Brine, who is eighth in Canada West scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game, just behind Victoria’s Chris McLaughlin’s 18 points per outing.

For the women, Kim Veldman of the Pronghorns leads the conference with 20.6 points per game.