CALGARY — The Victoria Vikes were hoping to prove they were the best in Canada for a reason, and the fifth-seeded Bishop’s Gaiters were looking for an upset.
It was the underdogs who prevailed on Saturday — and it came down to the final buzzer.
After plenty of back-and-forth action, the Gaiters found themselves up one point, 66-65, with 1 minute 37 seconds left on the shot clock.
After clutch defensive plays on both ends, the Vikes called a timeout with four seconds left, still down by one.
Victoria’s Yanis Malanda went for a final jump shot, but could not convert as the Gaiters advanced to the U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8 national championship game, where they will face the Carleton Ravens.
“I feel great, man,” Gaiters guard Zach John said. “We took a loss in our conference and that was tough, and the first thing we said, we’re gonna make sure everybody feels it when we come on and when we step in.”
John finished with 14 points off the bench, the second best on the team.
“My team — they support me 1000 per cent,” John said. “And without them, I wouldn’t be on fire like that. So big shout out to them for the reason why I played hot.”
Victoria will play TMU for Bronze tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. EST.
“Pretty sad, we’ve been playing so hard this whole season,” Vikes guard Renoldo Robinson said. “Ranked number one this whole season as well, and we just had pretty high expectations. We came out pretty good for the first half, then just couldn’t really get a buckets towards the end.”
The Gaiters dispatched Acadia in yesterday’s quarterfinals with a comfortable 98-85 victory to reach the semifinals.
“We can’t dwell on the past,” John said. “We try to just get one done and on to the next. So that’s what we’re doing. That win was good, but tomorrow, we’re not going to be thinking about that.”
Victoria came off their 100-86 quarterfinal win over Calgary looking sharp, opening the semifinal with a 12-3 lead.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, the Vikes had doubled up on Bishop’s, leading 18-9.
The Gaiters fought back, narrowing the gap to four points at 20-16 by the end of the quarter, though they didn’t really heat up until the second.
A jump shot by Bishop’s Yanis Malanda tied the game at 20, and again at 22 just 40 seconds later. The teams then traded leads eight times over the back half of the second quarter, with the Gaiters finishing the half ahead 35-34.
The teams traded baskets up and down the floor, with the lead changing hands four times before Bishop’s went on a 10-point run. Their momentum was capped by a three-pointer from Zach John, as Bishop’s took a 55-45 lead.
Victoria responded with a three from Robinson, but momentum swung back when John hit two free throws seconds later.
Robinson added a pair of free throws for the Vikes, yet the Gaiters quickly countered with a jump shot, extending their lead to nine at 59-50 heading into the final quarter.
The Vikes opened the fourth with a five-point run, but Gaiters point leader Charles Robert hit a clutch three to push his team’s lead. Robert finished the game with 17 points.
UVic refused to back down, with Robinson coming through once again, cutting the deficit to four. A defensive block in the paint allowed Geoffrey James to grab the rebound, sprint up the floor and sink a three-pointer, bringing the Vikes within one at 62-61 with five minutes to go in the game.
It was none other than Robinson who finally gave the Vikes their first lead, 63-62, since midway through the third quarter.
In keeping with the game’s seesawing energy, Bishop’s didn’t take long to get back on top with back-to-back layups.
Vikes made two free throws to get within one point once again — but it wouldn’t be enough as missed opportunities plagued the number one seeded team in the final stretch.
After the game, Robinson said he wished the team hit more shots, saying it got off to a “good start then kind of got stagnant offensively.”
“Oh man, my heart was racing,” John said. “You just gotta pray to the basketball gods and let them take care of it. As long as you do what you gotta do, everything’s gonna fall into place.”
Carleton and Bishop’s play for gold at 7:00 EST Sunday.
“There’s a bit of bad blood between Bishop’s and Carleton,” John said with a laugh. “But it’s going to be fun. I know they’re going to bring it, and we’re going to bring it, so we’re going to see who wants it more.”
Featured image by Zoe Pierce/the Charlatan
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