The Martlet

On Oct. 4, UVic’s women’s and men’s basketball teams went head to head with alumni players in an effort to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Society.

Not only were the games an excellent fund raiser, they allowed the teams to practice against exceptional competition.

The women’s stamina and composure was tested as they played two games in a row. Their first was a scrimmage against Vancouver’s Capilano College.

Women’s basketball coach Brian Cheng realizes his squad will never be faced with consecutive matches in the same day.

“We’ll never have a back-to-back in our league,” Cheng said. “We wanted a situation where it was like a second game on the road … [a] fatigued situation for the players. We want to see who can play under those conditions for us.”

Cheng’s squad was up against a highly decorated competition. The 11 women playing for the Alumni collectively have seven national championships under the belts.Their skill and experience showed early on during the match. The alumni team featured former all-Canadians Lindsay Brooke, Danny Everett and Ryan McKay.

The Vikes zone defence was no answer for the Alumni three-point shooting as they were outscored 38-31 by halftime. After a shaky start, the Vikes defense raised the intensity. They took the lead with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter with stellar three-point shooting and strong defensive play.

The Alumni defence started to falter as they lost their smooth ball movement that was so effective in the first half. To clinch the game with three seconds left, Ashley Yee of the Vikes came up with a key block on a possible game tying three-pointer. Shortly after the Alumni were denied, the Vikes put the game out of reach with a 1 point free throw.

Ryan McKay led the way for the Alumni with 13 points while Kayla Dykstra led the Vikes with 11 points. The final score was 62 Vikes, 58 Alumni.

The Vikes men were next to take on their alumni opponents. The men’s alumni featured Steve Moore, Keith Bustard and Lucky Walia. The game got off to a slow start with neither team really finding a rhythm in the first quarter.

Despite a stiff defence that caused the Vikes to turnover possession, they still led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was a complete turn around as the Vikes came out looking like a new team.

Sophomore Ryan McKinnon started off a 21-0 run with two three-pointers, two assists and a steal. The Vikes played stifling defence and ended up with a 36-11 lead at half time.

The second half was much of the same story as Vike Tyler Haas pushed the tempo and kept the pressure on the Alumni. The Alumni fought hard but failed to narrow the point margin with a score of 51-24 at the end of third quarter.

In the fourth quarter Brandon Dunlop put up eight straight points for the Vikes. Brandon Ellis valiantly scored a game-high 20 points, but his efforts failed to seal a win. The final score was 70-45 for the Vikes.

Several players hit double digits for a strong exhibition victory. Mitch Gudgeon put up 13 points for the Vikes and Ryan McKinnon scored 12. Both of the Vikes’ rookies, Talon Jones and Spencer McLean made an impact with 5 and 3 points respectively.

While the games were a good pre-season outing for the Vikes, it was the fans that really benefited from the matches. Development and Alumni relations officer Brent Dobbie saw the matches as a great way to build community support.

“I can remember going to these games when I was a kid,” he said. “The games bring back players that the fans had seen when they played for UVic. It’s great for the community.”