Vikes men shock Golden Bears, as women sweep Pandas

Efficient at both ends of the floor, both UVic Vikes basketball teams can happily go into the holiday break following Canada West victories over the U of Alberta Pandas and Golden Bears at the Saville Community Sports Centre on Saturday night.

The Vikes women’s team pulled out a 66-58 win over the Pandas for a weekend sweep while the Vikes men stunned the previously undefeated and No. 3-ranked Golden Bears 92-83.

“That was a good win for us,” said Vikes men’s head coach Craig Beaucamp. “We were a little disappointed in how we played [Friday] night and embarrassed and I’m proud of how we bounced back. We really competed, I thought.”

The Vikes pumped in 92 points on a team that was allowing just 63 a night as UVic improves to 6-4 on the year, while Alberta is now 9-1.

“We shot the ball really well. We made a lot of good plays. We talked about passing up good shots for great shots and we made a lot of extra passes tonight, which I thought was the difference,” said an elated Beaucamp.

Jordan Charles got the Vikes rolling early with 14 points in the first half and finished with 20, including six three-pointers. Mason Loewen and Jason Scully each had 15 points while Taylor Montgomer-Stinson had 14.

As a team, the Vikes were an amazing 18-of-31 from the three-point line.

Austin Waddoups had a game-high 34 points for the Golden Bears, including seven three-pointers.

Meanwhile, the Vikes women earned a valuable sweep, led by Amira Giannattasio’s game-high 24 points that included three three-pointers.

“We wanted to finish it off right, and now get some good practices in before we leave for break,” Giannattasio told the Canada West TV broadcast afterward.

Katie Langdon had 14 points and 10 rebounds as she enjoyed a strong weekend for the Vikes, who played well defensively, something coach Dani Sinclair wanted to focus on. Offensively, they more than held their own in the sweep.

“That’s the good thing on our team, one of us is always going,” said Giannattasio, who was 8-for-19 from the floor, 3-for-9 from the three-point line and 5-of-8 on free throws.

The Vikes women now enter the break with a record of 6-4 while the Pandas slip to 5-5.

Both Vikes teams now break for the holiday season. The women’s team will head to the University of Toronto for the Holiday Hoops tournament, facing Concordia, Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier from Dec. 28-30. The men head to Laval to play the hosts Cape Breton and Montreal. Both teams return to league play on Jan. 5, at home to Thompson Rivers.