Vancouver, B.C. – The fourth-seeded University of Victoria men's basketball team captured the 2024-25 U SPORTS Final 8 title with an 82-53 win over second-seeded University of Calgary, March 16 at UBC's Thunderbird Sports Centre.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Vikes limit Dinos to six points in first quarter

• Though the Dinos scored a basket in the first possession of the game, the Vikes responded with four points from Shadynn Smid, a pair of Ethan Boag free throws, and layups from Sam Maillet, Renoldo Robinson and Boag to take a 12-2 lead with 3:13 to go in the first frame.
• The Vikes forced three Dino turnovers in the first five minutes, with two credited to U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year Maillet.
• Victoria held Calgary scoreless for nearly seven and a half minutes in the first quarter, with the Dinos not scoring again until the 2:31 mark to bring the score to 13-4 in favour of the Vikes.
• Griffin Arnatt put the final points of the first quarter on the board for the Vikes, knocking down the hard-fought bucket for the 18-6 Vikes lead after 10 minutes of play.
• The six points allowed by the Vikes in the quarter are the fewest allowed by the team in the 2024-25 season, besting the previous low of eight scored by Thompson Rivers in the fourth quarter, Feb. 8.

Quick runs keep Victoria in front at the half

• A 9-0 Vikes run from a Boag layup, back-to-back Robinson buckets, and capped by a Maillet three-pointer gave Victoria the 29-11 lead with just over five minutes to go until halftime.
• Using a three from Aaron Tesfagiorgis, a Robinson steal and fastbreak layup and a Maillet driving layup, the Vikes went up 40-21 after a quick 7-0 run, leading to a Calgary-called timeout with 53 seconds unitl halftime.
• The Dinos put the final points of the second on the board, sending the game into halftime with the Vikes ahead 40-23.
• Though Victoria was only shooting 11.8% (2-17) from behind the arc in the first half, Victoria was shooting 36.2% (17-47) overall while holding Calgary to 25.8% (8-31) scoring.

Vikes add six points to lead in the third

• A turnaround jumper from Boag put the first points of the second half on the board for the 42-23 Vikes lead with 9:19 to go.
• A 9-0 Vikes run from an Arnatt three, Robinson and-one and additional free throw, and ending with a Geoffrey James driving layup gave Victoria 51-26 lead with seven minutes to play in the third.
• A James three was met by four Calgary points over the final minute of the fourth, but the Vikes still outscored the Dinos 25-19 in the third quarter to take a 65-42 lead into the final frame.

Vikes keep foot on gas in fourth to seal national title

• Not letting up one bit in the fourth, the Vikes saw a Smid dunk followed by a Robinson spin move layup give the Vikes a 30-point lead, 76-46, with seven minutes still to play.
• Not allowing any Calgary runs over the final seven minutes, the Vikes sealed the program's ninth national title by a score of 82-53.

FROM THE COURT – Head coach Murphy Burnatowski
On the feeling of winning the national title
"It's amazing. It's something we've talked about, and I feel it was a little bit like a fairy tale for us, just in the way we lost in the conference playoffs and the way we stepped up. The way I've seen the boys come together as a team, as a family, has truly been unbelievable."

On the winning the program's first title since 1996-77
"Obviously, with the history of the program, the drought it's something that's talked about a lot. Some of the older guys were dying for a championship, so I'm really happy for them. The alumni have been great and so supportive, and being able to bring one home for them was really nice."

FROM THE COURT – Sam Maillet
On the title win
"It's pretty amazing. This group has worked so hard all year, and I'm just really proud of them. It's amazing feeling, it's pretty surreal."

On the team peaking at the right time
"We just got back to being ourselves. We've said all year, we want to have more fun than the other team. We've had fun and just played with joy. We played together and played for each other, and there's so many guys that are strong leaders in our locker room so we could get back to that We had nothing to lose and everything to win, and we played like that. We were hungry, starving for a title, and we got it done."

WORTH NOTING

• The national title is the ninth in program history, and first for Victoria since 1996-97.
• U SPORTS Coach of the Year Murphy Burnatowski guided his program to a 25-1 overall record (20-0, 5-1), a Canada West bronze medal, and U SPORTS national championship title in his first year at the helm of the program.
• The 29-point win marks the largest margin of victory for the Vikes in the nine title games they have won, besting the previous high of 14 set in 1984-85 in a 93-79 win over Waterloo.
• Renoldo Robinson was named the player of the game following a team-leading 24 point performance, adding nine rebounds and a team-high four steals in the win.
• Sam Maillet and Renoldo Robinson were named tournament All-Stars following the win, while Maillet also collected tournament MVP honours.
• Maillet tallied nine points, six rebounds, a team-high three blocks, along with three assists and two steals in his final game as a Vike.
• Geoffrey James added 17 points, while Ethan Boag finished with 12 and Shadynn Smid with 11 to round out the double-digit point scorers for the Vikes.

UP NEXT
The Vikes' 2024-25 season has come to a close with the national championship win.