VICTORIA, B.C. – In the first game of the new year, the University of Victoria Vikes men's basketball team dropped the Manitoba Bisons in a thrilling overtime victory at CARSA on Fri., Jan. 8. The Vikes came out on top to win 85-77, improving their record to 6-3 while Manitoba drops even with the Vikes to 6-3.

Leading the Vikes was fourth-year forward Grant Sitton, who logged 28 points and had 11 rebounds. Fifth-year Mack Roth followed with 20 points while Reiner Theil and Brandon Dunlop rounded out the scoreboard for the Vikes with 11 points each.

Manitoba also had four players log double-digits. Fourth years Brett Jewell and AJ Basi both led the team with 17 points and three rebounds while teammates Justus Alleyn and Ilarion Bonhomme posted 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Sitton opened the scoring for the Vikes with a two-point basket right off the tipoff. Carrying on from that early momentum, Sitton and Dunlop proceeded to post back-to-back three-pointers for the Vikes to make the scoreline 14-2 halfway through the opening quarter.

Proving to be Vikes' leader on the court, Sitton posted 14 points in the first quarter. Greene made sure to end the quarter on a positive note with a buzzer-beating basket to put the Vikes up 25-10 going into half-time.

At the start of the second, Sitton continued his offensive dominance as he sank a long distance three followed by a huge defensive block at the other end of the court. Back-to-back baskets from behind the arc by Manitoba's Basi gave the Bisons the offensive momentum they needed to stay in the game.

Basi's impressive performance not only gave him 11 points on the scoreboard in the second quarter, but helped lower the Bisons' trailing margin, bringing the scoreline down to 41-34 at half-time.

Although the Vikes were able to fend off a Bisons' comeback for the majority of the third quarter, a steal and fast break by Bonhomme gave Manitoba more offensive force. Basi followed from distance twice more in the remainder of quarter to bring the visitors within four points of the Vikes going into the last quarter.

In the final frame, the Vikes and Bisons battled it out back and forth as Manitoba closed in on the two-point margin on several occasions. The Bisons suffered a blow when Bonhomme got injured halfway through the quarter, but Sitton did not hesitate at the other end as he had a five-point play to put the Vikes lead up to nine points with five minutes left.

The game intensified as the Bisons bounced back within one point of the Vikes when Alleyn sank a three-pointer in the last minute. With less than a minute remaining, the Bisons had an offensive foul and Dunlop sank one of his free throws to put the home team ahead by two points. However, Manitoba quickly responded on the other end to tie the game 75-75 with eight seconds on the scoreboard. 

With the game tied, the game entered a five-minute period of overtime. UVic came out swinging right off the whistle to show their offensive superiority. With Manitoba unable to contain the Vikes, they ran into foul trouble, which allowed the Vikes to extend their lead to 85-77 at the final whistle.

The Vikes and Bisons will tip off for the second leg of the doubleheader tomorrow night at CARSA Performance Gym. The game will be underway at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed live with pay-per-view video and stats on canadwest.tv.

SCORING BY QUARTER

UVIC: 25-16-18-16-10:85

MAN: 10-24-21-20-2:77

SCORING LEADERS

UVIC: Grant Sitton (28), Mack Roth (20), Reiner Theil (11), Brandon Dunlop (11)

MAN: Aj Basi (17), Brett Jewell (17), Justus Alleyn (14), Ilarion Bonhomme (10)