The VIU Mariners were a perfect four-for-four on the road this past weekend in PacWest basketball action.
Vancouver Island University’s men’s and women’s hoops teams won their games against the Kwantlen Eagles on Friday and against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats on Saturday. The M’s men were 116-68 winners against the Eagles and beat the Bearcats 94-75. The Mariners women handled the lady Eagles 77-44 and then hammered the Bearcats 80-49.
VIU’s men had started some games slowly this season, but that wasn’t the case against Kwantlen.
“We got up pretty big early and were able to maintain the lead. It was good because a lot of guys got to play a lot of minutes,” said Matt Kuzminski, coach of the M’s. “I thought the guys’ effort for the whole 40 minutes was pretty solid. We had some execution errors and things like that, but the effort and the enthusiasm towards the game didn’t wane.”
Six M’s reached double digits in scoring, led by Josh Ross who had 32 points and 14 rebounds. Curtis Wilson added 17.
The next day, John Thompson scored 35 points, while Jason Fortin had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The M’s women were led Friday by Lanae Adams, who had 23 points and 11 boards, and Sienna Pollard, who scored 16.
The next day, Sara Simovic scored 31 points and Jamie MacFarlane added 15.
GAME ON … The M’s hosts the Langara Falcons on Friday (Nov. 20) at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the VIU gym, then host the Quest Kermodes on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.
