Basketball bounces back to the Vancouver Island University gymnasium this weekend.
The VIU Mariners men’s b-ball team plays a pair of exhibitions Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) against Okanagan College.
The M’s men have already been out on the court twice this pre-season, scrimmaging with the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack last Friday and then taking on the UBC-Okanagan Lakers the next day in Kelowna.
“I’m really happy with the guys and the way they’re coming together and competing,” said Matt Kuzminski, coach of the M’s men.
Scores weren’t officially kept in the scrimmage, but it would have ended as an 84-84 tie.
The next night, the Lakers got the better of the Mariners 94-88. In that contest, Usama Zaid led VIU with 29 points and Bryson Cox added 25.
This weekend’s games against Okanagan shape up as good competition, said VIU’s coach. The program is playing an exhibition schedule this year with an eye to joining the Pacific Western Athletic Association in 2018-19.
“They’ve managed to get some good players and a lot of CIS (U Sports) drop-downs…” said Kuzminski. “They’ll have a pretty good team.”
The coach said he understands that the execution will take time, but wants to continue seeing good effort from his players and steps forward. The Mariners are looking at the pre-season as an opportunity for both evaluation and preparation.
“I think it’s a bit of both,” said Kuzminski. “With some of the new guys, we’re still trying to find where everybody fits into the rotation … but a lot of it, too, is trying to get closer to the way that we want to play.”
GAME ON … Saturday’s game is an 8 p.m. tipoff at the VIU gym and Sunday’s rematch is at noon. Admission is free. VIU’s women’s basketball team is on the road to face TRU and Trinity Western University.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
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