Dinos and Vikes play one for the ages

First things first. What a game!

Friday night's men's basketball showdown at Shields Court was what college hoops is all about. Two nationally ranked teams playing a spirited back and forth game in front of a jam packed crowd with the final outcome unclear until the final horn. The highly anticipated match up exceeded expectations and was by far the best game at Mckinnon Gym this year.

The Dinos and Vikes left everything on the court and left the thousand plus on Ring Road and 300 plus tuning into the Vikes Streaming Network entertained until the final minute. And just when you thought it was all over for the Vikes, Cyril Indome decided to catch fire and keep everyone in the building and tuned in for another nail biting few seconds. The box score will say the Dinos picked up a 86-81 road victory, but there was so much more to this game than the score. It was chippy. It was spirited. It was intense. And it was ohh so heartbreaking for the Vikes.

A few lasting images from Fridays game:

• The Dinos Robbie Sihota going absolutely unconscious in the 2nd half. He basically put his team on his back and led them to the victory. Sihota nearly accounted for half of the Dinos 26 point 3rd quarter explosion. It didn't matter if there was one, two or three Vikes defenders on him. He was feeling it and he wasn't missing.
• The gutsy effort put forth by Vikes senior Mitch Gudgeon. Whether it was his team leading 22 points, his tenacious defense on the Bekkering brothers, or his pretty behind the back pass to fellow senior Tyler Hass, Gudge brought his A+ game on Friday night to Shields Court. You could see the frustration in his face in the dying seconds of the game when it became apparent that the Vikes late 4th quarter comeback was going to come up short. If this was the final close contest that Gudgeon plays at Mckinnon gym, he definitely left a lasting impression.
  
• Cyril Indome! Wow where did that come from. The Winnipeg native almost single handedly brought his Vikes back from extinction, knocking down two treys and a lay up in the final 30 seconds of play. You gotta wonder where he was for the other 39 minutes of the game?
  
• Henry Bekkering's spectacular dunk show in pre-game warm ups. Fans got their money's worth before the game even started, as Bekkering put on dunking display worthy of the NBA slam dunk competition. Through-the-legs, behind-the-back, free throw line, double pump reverse, this kid has it all in his repertoire. Look for the Horn to post some of those incredible dunks later on in the week.
  

The loss makes the Vikes quest for home court in the playoffs that much more difficult. However, the Vikes got some help on Friday night as the SFU Clan went into Langley and pulled of a big upset by ending the Trinity Western Spartans 12 game winning streak. What does this all mean? Well the Vikes have 3 games remaining and sit 2 points behind the Spartans . With the Spartans holding the tie-breaker, the Vikes will need to win out and hope that their PAC-D rivals lose one of their final two games next weekend. Trinity travels East to take on Manitoba and Winnipeg. The Vikes meanwhile host Lethbridge tonight, and than will wrap up the regular season when they welcome the Fraser Valley and Thompson Rivers next weekend.

Regardless of how the men do over the final three games, the Women Vikes made sure that there will be post season basketball in Victoria, as they clinched homecourt in the opening round of the postseason by knocking off the Calgary Dinos 65-52. Kayla Dykstra once again had a MVP-caliber performance, scoring a game high 24 points and grabbing 15 boards. The Vikes (14-6) will either host Trinity Western (11-10) or UBC (10-10) in the opening round of the playoffs. It will mark the first time since 2004 that the Vikes will host a playoff series.



The Horn would love to hear your thoughts from either of Friday's games. If you were there witnessing the showdown or out there playing, feel free to leave your comments.