The VIU Mariners know as well as any team how difficult it can be to get to nationals. So they sure appreciate the opportunity in front of them this week.
Vancouver Island University’s men’s basketball team tips off the Canadian Colleges’ Athletic Association championships tonight (March 17) in Oshawa, Ont.
“We’re all very excited,” said Patrick McCarthy, VIU veteran. “It’s taken a couple of years to get here but it just feels like our time.”
They had to wait, impatiently, for this time to arrive. In 2009 and again in 2010, the Mariners finished second in B.C., and both years, due to circumstances out of their control, that wasn’t good enough for a berth at nationals.
In 2011, they’ve captured that elusive provincial title and that coveted berth at nationals. They could be satisfied with all they’ve accomplished and go into nationals as though they’re just happy to be there.
“Yes, some goals have been achieved,” McCarthy said. “But there’s still the ultimate one.”
A national championship is certainly an achievable goal – in fact, VIU goes into this week’s competition as tournament favourites, seeded No. 1 by the CCAA.
The M’s knocked off last year’s national champions, the University of Northern B.C. Timberwolves, in this month’s provincial final by a 96-90 score.
“We’re definitely at our peak,” said Mike Wohlers, another M’s veteran. “We have a couple more steps to take, obviously, to win the national title, but we’ll take them.”
The first step comes tonight against the Durham Lords, the tournament’s host team. The M’s are expecting to face an athletic, fast squad in a packed gym. VIU player Tyler Olsen said he prefers to play in front of a big crowd, whether they’re cheering against him or not.
“You feed off it,” he said. “Hostile or friendly, they’re both good.”
The M’s want to make sure they force their own game as much as they can this week.
“Our strength is inside, definitely, and once they collapse in, then we can kick out to the shooters,” McCarthy said. “We want to push the ball, but definitely our strength’s going inside, out.”
The players said earlier this week they’re going into nationals in the right frame of mind. It’s all about finding a balance: ambitious yet focused, level-headed yet excited.
“We can’t wait,” Olsen said. “Throw the jump ball, let’s go.”
COURT SHORTS … The VIU Mariners men’s basketball team starts the Canadian Colleges’ Athletic Association nationals tonight (March 17) in Oshawa, Ont. The M’s face the Durham Lords at 5 p.m. Pacific time. The championship game will be played Saturday (March 19) at 5 p.m. Pacific time. All games at nationals will be webcast live … Besides VIU and No. 8-ranked Durham, the other teams participating in nationals, in order of seeding, are Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks, Toronto’s Humber Hawks, Prince George’s UNBC, the Lethbridge Kodiaks, Halifax’s Mount Saint Vincent Mystics, and the Vanier Cheetahs of St. Laurent, Que.
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