University of Victoria Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp wanted to make sure that his team would be prepared to start the Canada West men's basketball season by scheduling some tough exhibition games.
The Vikes close out their pre-season schedule tonight at McKinnon Gym against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves from Thunder Bay, Ont. Game time is 7 p.m.
For most of last season, the Thunderwolves were ranked No. 2, just behind the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion Carleton Ravens.
"We wanted to play some quality games before the season starts," said Beaucamp. "A team can only get better by playing some of the best in the country. These games will be great preparation for the Canada West season."
Last weekend, the Vikes played in the Guy Vetrie Memorial tournament, coming away with a 2-1 record. The Vikes played the Ravens, Alberta Golden Bears and the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Alberta lost last year's final to the Ravens.
"Since the start of the year, our team is definitely improving,'' said Beau-camp. "We have hit some bumps in the road like our first half against Carleton [87-63 loss]. But, our team did respond in the second half and that carried over a bit to the Alberta game [75-70 victory].
"With our young team, we'll take a couple of steps forward and then a couple back. That is to be expected at this time of the year."
Beaucamp says Lakehead will pose some problems for his team.
"Lakehead is a very deep team with several core players returning," said Beaucamp. "I'm sure they will be ranked in the top three or four to start the season. The Thunderwolves are very athletic and they can shoot the ball well."
The UVic women's team will complete its exhibition season with four games in Ontario. The Vikes will start with a game against McMaster on Thursday before heading to Guelph on Friday. They will then play Toronto on Saturday and Western University on Sunday. Brian Cheng, the former UVic head coach, is in his second season as the coach for Western.
Both UVic teams open Canada West play Nov. 2-3 against the UBC-Okanagan Heat at McKinnon Gym.
With the addition of the Mount Royal Cougars from Calgary and the University of Northern B.C. from Prince George, Canada West has expanded to 16 teams and will play a 22-game schedule.
