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     Basketball Club

Saskatoon, Sask. - After being down 42-36 at the half the University of Victoria Vikes came out strong in the second half, outscoring the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 43-25 on their way to a 79-67 victory Friday night at the Physical Activity Complex.

Victoria (21-8, 17-3 Canada West), ranked No. 8 in the nation, remains in second place in the Pacific Divison, one game behind UBC (24-9, 18-2). Saskatchewan (16-17, 11-8) is still two games back of Central Division leader Alberta (21-10, 13-6), who lost 71-67 to UBC Friday night.

Saskatchewan will host No. 5-ranked UBC Saturday night. Saturday is "Senior Night", and fifth-year guard Sam Lamontagne will be honoured prior to the tip-off. The Huskies and Thunderbirds staged a classic in last March's Canada West semi-final, with the T-Birds coming out on top 73-72 on their home court.

The Huskies started the game sluggishly, as the Vikes got out to a 7-0 lead. After a timeout, Kyle Grant finally got the Huskies on the board with a three with 17:25 to play. The Huskies then started to get out and run, and took an 11-9 lead as Andrew Spagrud took a nice pass from Mark Lynch and slamed it home on the fast break. The teams would stay close the next ten minutes, in a half that featured seven lead changes and six ties.

A converted three-point play by Rejean Chabot put the Huskies up 22-20 with 8:47 to go in the period. With the Vikes up 32-30, the Huskies made a 12-4 run to close out the final five minutes of the half, taking a six point lead into the locker room. The Huskies shot a blistering 66.7% from the field in the first half, while the Vikes shot a respectable 48.5%. The Huskies also outrebounded the Vikes 17-9 in the first frame.

The second half would be a different story though. With Saskatchewan up 48-43 with 17:15 remaining, Victoria exploded for a 15-0 run over the next five minutes. Six Saskatchewan turnovers led to easy hoops for Victoria, and Josh Whyte capped the run with a three as the shot clock ran down and another jumper. A layup by Grant cut the lead to 60-54 with just under eleven minutes to go, but that's as close as Saskatchewan would get the rest of the night.

The Vikes pushed the lead to 17 after Brandon Ellis knocked down a three with 3:36 to go, and the Vikes held on for the victory. The Vikes shot 61.5% from the floor in the second half, while the Huskies were only 40.9%.

Chabot had a game-high 27 points on 11-16 shooting to lead the Huskies. Spagrud finished with 24 points and a career-high tying 18 rebounds. He was 10-10 from the free throw line. Grant was the next leading Huskie scorer with eight points.

Jacob Doerksen led the Vikes with 20 points and six rebounds. Whyte added 17 points and eight assists, while Graeme Bollinger had 16 points and five boards.

Saskatchewan shot 54.3% from the field for the game, but were only 1-9 from beyond the arc. Victoria shot 54.2% for the game, including 7-13 from downtown. Saskatchewan had 21 turnovers compared to Victoria's 15. Saskatchewan won the battle of the boards 30-25.