February 11, 2023 Victoria, BC ( ISN ) – The University of Victoria men’s basketball team wrapped up their Canada West regular season with an 94-92 overtime win versus their “cross the pond “nemesis UBC Thunderbirds in front of 1500 fans at CARSA Gymnasium on the University of Victoria campus Friday evening.
Vike’s Diego Maffia would post a 2022-2023 Canada West single-game points high with 42 points to lead his team to victory in a game that saw the 13-7 Thunderbirds test the home squad with a resilient third quarter effort, outscoring the Vikes in the frame 21-14. Thunderbird’s James Woods would lead his team with 34 points in the OT loss.
In what was otherwise a back-and-forth contest between the two sides, the Thunderbirds would dominate most of the final quarter, leading by as many as 17 points with 3:35 remaining in the game, however the Vikes Maffia would let loose with an unbelievable effort to pull his team back from the brink of defeat. Maffia would single-handedly score his team’s last 17 points, and post 2 steals with 3:35 remaining to force the overtime.
UBC’s James Woods would counter with a three-pointer with six seconds remaining in overtime to knot the score at 92-92. After a time-out called by Vike’s head coach Craig Beaucamp, UVic would put the ball in the hot hand of Maffia again, however his three-point attempt would fall short, but rebound into the hands of teammate Dominick Oliveri who would make good on the put-back to score the winner with two seconds left on the clock and seal the Vike’s win.
The Vikes finish the Canada West regular season with a 17-3 record, one win behind Manitoba for top spot. With the win, the Vike’s are rated as the number two men’s basketball team in the country by USport.ca. UVic now enters the post-season with aspirations of bring the National Championship back to Victoria.
The Vikes will play their quarterfinal game at CARSA on February 18th 7pm against the play-in winner of the Regina vs UNBC game, also played at CARSA, on Friday, February 17 at 5pm.
