Season play resumes for the UVic Vikes men’s and women’s basketball teams with the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies tonight (Jan. 6) and Alberta Pandas on Saturday.
This weekend is a tough test, said head coach Rich Chambers on the team’s website. Both visiting clubs are ranked top-10 in the CIS, the Huskies at No. 5 and Pandas at No. 7.
The Vikes women (5-3) went 1-3 during their holiday exhibition schedule, including a 72-67 loss to the Japanese under-18 team on Sunday.
“The biggest thing in our exhibition games is that our offence never flowed,” Chambers said. “Our offence at times ran like it was in slow motion, we didn’t battle and compete at times. And when we needed to, we couldn’t get stops on the defensive end.”
California boys return
Undefeated in regular season play, the Vikes men’s basketball team (8-0) upped the ante over the holidays with a tour of three NAIA schools in California.
UVic opened the tour by defeating the Biola Eagles 64-60, but then lost a pair of games to the Concordia Eagles 87-64 and the Azusa Pacific Cougars 74-54.
The Vikes are ranked No. 5 in the CIS and host the No. 4 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies Friday and No. 6 ranked Alberta Golden Bears on Saturday.