The VIU Mariners made it a perfect home-opening weekend in their gym. Vancouver Island University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams swept their games Friday at Saturday, defeating the Columbia Bible College Bearcats and Kwantlen Eagles, respectively.
The men’s M’s handled the Bearcats 89-59 and then soared past the Eagles 101-67. VIU’s women won 72-34 and 65-45, respectively.
“Both games this weekend, I thought we started off really well, our starters set the tone,” said Matt Kuzminski, coach of the M’s men.
He said in the Kwantlen game his team focused on limiting turnovers and was successful, with point guard Brandon Jones dishing 12 assists against just one turnover.
“When he’s rolling and getting everybody the ball, we’re rolling,” said Seth Goodman, M’s forward.
Goodman said VIU’s positive results on the weekend were a product of practice.
“We go hard every day, so this is the fruit of our labour,” he said.
The first game Jones had 20 points, Jason Fortin had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Harrison Stupich had 12 points and Goodman had 11 points and 13 boards. The next day, Goodman had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Fortin also scored 22 and Jones added 17.
“We’ve got some momentum now,” said Kuzminski. “We’ve won three games and we’ve played pretty well for this early in the season.”
For VIU’s women, Jocelyn Jones had 18 points against CBC, Heather McCarthy added 15 points and Jenna Carver and Shayna Worthington scored 11 apiece.
The next day it was McCarthy’s 20-point outing leading the way, while Jones scored 18 points and Worthington had 10 points and nine rebounds.
“Good weekend with two league wins, got contributions from several different people,” said Bill McWhinnie, coach of the VIU women, in a press release.
GAME ON … The Mariners hoops program continues its homestand with games Friday (Nov. 15) and Saturday against the Quest Kermodes and Capilano Blues, respectively, at the VIU gym. On Friday the VIU women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men’s game to follow at 8 p.m.; on Saturday the M’s women play at 1 p.m. followed by the men at 3 p.m.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
