University of Victoria Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp said this is always the “most slippery weekend.” He wasn’t referring to the current winter state of Island roads.
“Mental fatigue starts to set in and there are a lot of demands on student athletes, including exams, always on this last weekend before the conference December break,” he said.
The U Sports nationally second-ranked Vikes (6-2) conclude the opening portion of the Canada West men’s basketball season against the Mount Royal University Cougars of Calgary tonight and Saturday night at CARSA gym.
“Mount Royal is 4-2 and that’s enough said,” said Beaucamp, of the weekend challenge.
“They beat UBC on the road last weekend and they play hard and compete. We’ve got to bring our hard hats and take care of business.”
The Vikes are coming off two home victories against the Trinity Western University Spartans last weekend but saw huge first-half leads eaten into during both games.
“We had good first halves and not quite so good halves coming out of the breaks. We have a young group that is learning that putting away teams is critical,” said Beaucamp.
“But basketball is a game of runs. It’s the nature of the sport.”
Shooting-guard Diego Maffia of UVic is fourth in Canada West scoring with the dynamic third-year player out of Oak Bay sporting a 22.1 points-per-game average while the Vikes’ fifth-year American-import forward Dominick Oliveri of Spokane tops the conference in rebounding with an average of 14.1 boards per game.
It is, however, UVic’s depth which drives this group. There is simply too much talent spread around to let opponents key on any specific player at any juncture of the game.
“Our top guys are going to get their stats but it’s the next three-four guys that changes every game and that’s been the key for us,” said Beaucamp.
In the women’s Canada West games, Carrie Watts’ UVic Vikes (2-6) meet the 3-3 Mount Royal squad. UVic star Ashlyn Day, the defending Canada West scoring champion out of Kelowna, is second in conference scoring with a 22.6 points-per-game average while third-year forward Brooklyn White out of Abbotsford leads the Vikes in rebounding with a Canada West top-10 average of 8.9 per game.
The men’s games go at 8 p.m. tonight and 7 p.m. Saturday with the women’s at 6 tonight and 5 on Saturday at CARSA gym.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
