We Are the Champions may seem standard fare now after title games but it never grows old when it is played for you. The University of Victoria Vikes players cut down the net and mingled with fans on the floor Friday night following their 95-80 victory over the University of Winnipeg Wesmen in the Canada West men’s basketball championship game before a jammed standing-room-only crowd of 2,300 on Ken and Kathy Shields Court in CARSA gym.
“It’s a different feeling winning a championship at home,” said UVic fifth-year forward Dominick Oliveri, who was also part of the team that won the conference championship game last season in Edmonton against the Alberta Golden Bears.
“This is a special group of guys who had one goal in mind tonight,” added Oliveri, the Spokane, Washington, product who had a monster night on the boards with 22 rebounds to go with his 14 points.
The Vikes, a founding member of Canada West in 1971-72, won their 17th conference title. It was the first time in the final for the Wesmen since joining Canada West from the old Great Plains Conference in 2001-02.
“It was an amazing atmosphere with all these fans,” said UVic rookie star Renoldo Robinson from Montreal, who had 18 points in the final.
Stretch-forward Ethan Boag stepped up with 12 points and five rebounds.
“It was indescribable in here tonight,” said the Claremont Secondary graduate.
“It was great to see the community come together like this and see the Vikes a powerhouse again.”
UVic was awarded the conference championship trophy at home for the first time since beating Don Horwood’s Alberta Golden Bears at the old McKinnon Gym in 2001. The last three Vikes conference championships were won on the road, last year in Edmonton against the Golden Bears, in 2015 at Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Huskies and in 2006 at War Memorial Gym in Point Grey against the arch-rival UBC Thunderbirds.
“Winning is always better at home,” said Craig Beaucamp, in his 20th season as Vikes head coach.
“Winnipeg is a quality team and never really went away. We gutted it out and pulled away at the end.”
Guard Diego Maffia is UVic’s first Canada West MVP since 2000 Sydney Olympian Eric Hinrichsen in 1998-99 and scored 20 points as boisterous chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP …” rang off the gym walls.
Attacking-guard Elias Ralph added 18 points as the Vikes led 29-18 after the first quarter, 48-39 at the half and 75-61 at three-quarters. Madrid-native Mikhail Mikhailov led the Wesmen with 22 points. He is one of two Spaniards and one Ontario player on an otherwise home-grown team with 10 players from Winnipeg.
Canada West has two berths into the 2023 U Sports national championship tournament March 10-12 at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S. The draw will be decided by results of the other conference finals this weekend.
UVic is after its ninth Canadian title and first since Hinrichsen led the Vikes to the 1997 national championship. The Wesmen have never won the Canadian crown and will be making their first appearance at nationals since 1994.
