MBB: Season's story reaches fascinating climax

by Brian Swane, special to CW

On one side is a team that is not only seeking its first Stan Broder Trophy, it’s playing in the Canada West championship final for the first time.

On the other side is the reigning Canada West men’s basketball champ, a program that’s won more titles than anyone else. 

It’s David versus Goliath. Upstart underdog versus perennial powerhouse. In the prototypical sports story, this is the climatic contest.

And the Winnipeg Wesmen and Victoria Vikes are here to write themselves a happy ending.

The top-seeded Vikes host the third seed Wesmen in the Canada West men’s basketball championship final, Friday at 7 p.m. PST inside the CARSA Performance Gym on the University of Victoria campus.

This is exactly where the Vikes envisioned being from the moment that they raised their 2022 championship banner and began their quest to capture yet another, what would be the 17th title in their unmatched history. Victoria has won 15 of its last 16 games, including home playoff victories over the Regina Cougars, 88-70 in the quarterfinal round on Feb. 18, and UBC Thunderbirds, 91-83 in last Friday’s semi-final.

Coming off a pair of .500 seasons, Winnipeg wasn’t as clear of a championship contender, especially after the second week of the regular season when the Wesmen suffered consecutive losses by large margins to the Vikes, 91-66 on Nov. 11 and 94-79 on Nov. 12 at the CARSA Performance Gym in the Canada West finalists’ only two meetings of 2022-23.

But the Wesmen went on to achieve a program record 15 wins in the regular season. They then survived an unforgettable triple overtime marathon, defeating the Brandon Bobcats 87-84 on a buzzer-beater in the quarterfinals on Feb. 18, followed last Saturday by an even more memorable victory, 73-70 over the crosstown rival Manitoba Bisons, in a semi-final at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Victoria is led offensively by explosive third-year guard Diego Maffia, the Canada West Player of the Year who led all players in the regular season with a scoring average of nearly 25 points per game, and Canada West All-Rookie Team guard Renoldo Robinson, the second-leading scorer in Canada West among first year players with an average of just over 15 points per game.

The Wesmen rely on a more balanced attack, with its top four scorers in the regular season averaging inside the range of 10 to 15 points per game. All-Rookie Team guard Alberto Gordo has upped his production to 17 points each game during the postseason, while third-year forward Donald Stewart has hit the game-winning three-pointer in both of Winnipeg’s playoff contests, including a buzzer-beater against Brandon.

Friday’s match-up marks the first postseason meeting of the Vikes and Wesmen since 2014, when Victoria defeated Winnipeg two games to one in a best-of-three quarterfinal series. Their only other Canada West playoff game was a semi-final in 2013, also won by Victoria.

Victoria and Winnipeg have both qualified for the 2023 U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8, March 10 to 12 at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S.

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