LANGLEY, British Columbia – Trinity Western University's men's basketball team fell to Victoria 78-61 in the second of a two-game season-opening series with the Vikes Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

The Vikes (2-0) took a 30-20 lead into halftime before exploding with a 28-point third quarter to put the game out of reach. TWU (0-2) had their best effort of the night in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Vikes 27-20, but, similar to Friday's game, Victoria's lead proved insurmountable.

The Vikes were led by Mack Roth with 28 points while Jordan Charles had 14 points and Kai Greene added 10 points. Justin Kinnear also contributed to the win with a team-high eight rebounds.

The Spartans Josiah Allison (Abbotsford, B.C.) and Lucas Mannes (Chilliwack, B.C.) led TWU's scoring efforts with 15 and 13 points respectively. Patrick Vandervelden (Abbotsford) had a game-high 10 rebounds.

TWU shot 31.3 per cent as a team while Victoria shot 40 per cent, including a nine for 25 night from beyond the arc. Allison was the only Spartan to hit a 3-pointer as he went five for eight while TWU was five for 20 overall.

"Tonight, as far as our defensive game plan, we did a good job," said Spartans coach Aaron Muhic. "We were very consistent in how we wanted to play people in the post and I thought we were pretty consistent with our ball pressure and things like that. Victoria just did a really good job of getting the ball in the paint and we got tagged with a bunch of fouls that really got us out of our rhythm.

"We're doing the right things, but we just have to keep going and fight through and understand how to win."

The Spartans came out with high-energy in the first quarter, improving on Friday's first 10-minute result when they were behind by 10 points, and trailed only be three, 12-9 after the opening frame. The Spartans led in rebounds 16-11 but were just four for 20 from the field while Victoria was four for 15.

The Vikes pushed their lead to 10 points at halftime, with Victoria shooting 34.4 per cent and the Spartans shooting 21.2 per cent.

While TWU continued to struggle to connect on shots, Victoria extended its lead to 58-34 by the end of the third quarter. Vandervelden provided solid defense, collecting eight defensive boards through 30 minutes, but the Vikes hit six 3-pointers to open up a 24-point lead.

Victoria had control of the game in the fourth quarter and opened up as much as a 29-point lead. Inside the final four minutes of the game, the Spartans found a late rhythm, which was led by Allison, who had four fourth-quarter 3-pointers, to give the Spartans a late spur.

Canada West gameplay continues next week for both teams, with TWU playing at nearby UBC and Victoria in Saskatchewan.

Game Notes: UVIC had 8-4 steals…Victoria edged TWU 45-43 in rebounds.

-TW-