Up and at 'em - Week 11

It’s a full schedule of weekend games in men’s basketball as the PACWEST pushes into Week 11 of the regular season.

VIU Mariners @ Capilano Blues – Friday January 30, 8:00pm | WATCH HERE

The last time these two teams met on the campus of Capilano was last year’s gold medal game in which the Blues upset the top ranked Mariners to win PACWEST gold and advance to the CCAA national championship.  They met earlier this year with the teams splitting their doubleheader weekend at VIU in November.  The Mariners winning by eight points before the Blues came back the next day to win by 10.

Coming into the weekend the Mariners (13-3) have won four straight and are averaging over 102 points scored over that streak and find themselves on the road for the second straight weekend.   They are shooting 48% on the campaign which has improved since the addition of Keyonte Beals for the second semester. He has averaged over 25 points in his four games to date but does take several shots each game.  Six players are averaging over 10 points on the scoresheet.

The Blues (10-6) meanwhile dropped both their games by 17-points at Camosun last weekend.  The losses snapped their five-game winning streak and continued their woes on the road.  They are a much better team at home with a 6-1 record but will be in tough against the high-flying Mariners.  In the 16-games this season they are shooting 44%, scoring over 86-points a game led by Kash Lang and his 19.5 a game.  Defence will be an important part for the Blues this weekend.

These two schools will meet again on Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm.

Camosun Chargers @ Douglas Royals – Friday January 30, 8:00pm | WATCH HERE

A pair of teams going in opposite directions will meet for the final time this season after the Chargers swept the November weekend on the island.

Heading into Week 11, the Chargers (13-5) have the same number of points as the first-place Mariners but have played two more games than their island counterparts.  They have won three in a row and will play their final road games this season, playing their final four at home before hosting the PACWEST championship.   They have been a very defensive minded team this season, allowing the second fewest number of points and are averaging over nine steals a game.  On the offensive side they are scoring over 78 points and shooting 40% led by David Finch and his 16.1 points a game.

Injuries continue to plague the Royals (3-15) this year and need to win outright and get some help to keep their playoff hopes alive.   They are currently the lone team on the outside looking in, six points back of the final playoff spot.  Derrick Monroe has been a bright spot all season dropping in 18.4 points a game and snagging over six rebounds.  The Royals will need to find some secondary scoring this weekend and beyond to get back into the playoff discussion.

On Saturday afternoon the schools will meet in a rematch at 3:00pm.

Okanagan Coyotes @ CBC Bearcats – Friday January 30, 8:00pm | WATCH HERE

This will be an interesting matchup this weekend as both the Bearcats and Coyotes come in with 12 points each in the standings, but the Bearcats have two games in hand.

Speaking of the Bearcats they are coming off their bye week and should be well rested to meet the ‘Yotes.   In their first meeting in Kelowna, the offences exploded to score over 100 points each game, the Bearcats averaging 106 points scored.  Overall, they are shooting 40% from the field and boast two of the Conference leading scorers in Dane-Dre Anglin and D’Andre Palmer-Ormsby.  The knock on the ‘Cats this season has been their defence allowing over 94 points a game. 

The Coyotes defence hasn’t been much better allowing over 84 points a game.  That said, they are coming off a weekend sweep at home and are hoping to ride that momentum into this weekend.  Their offensive punch has been better as of late with Phil Holmes Jr getting some secondary scoring from Trevon Roots and Oaklen Kowal, the reigning Athlete of the Week.

These teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon in the rematch at 3:00pm.