Box Score

The University of Regina's men's basketball team started slow and never really recovered from a big early deficit as the Cougars lost 79-55 on the road to the Victoria Vikes at McKinnon Gym in Victoria.

Kyle Peterson and Terrell Evans helped Victoria build up a 19-4 lead eight minutes into the opening quarter. The U of R rallied early in the second quarter and got to within seven on multiple occasions before a 7-0 run by the Vikes restored the double-digit lead.

Victoria led by 14 at the half and by as many as 18 points during the third quarter before the Cougars were able to scramble together a valiant run to get back in the ball game. Victoria's Michael Acheampong scored a bucket to put the Vikes up 57-40 late in the third, but the Cougars held the home side off the board for almost six minutes and got the offence going in a big run.

The Cougars scored on their first five possessions of the fourth quarter as part of a 13-0 run, cutting Victoria's lead to just four with under eight minutes left in the final period. All nine of the U of R's points early in the fourth quarter were provided down low by Paul Gareau and Jeremy Zver, but that would be as close as the Cougars would come. They scored just two points the rest of the way, with the Vikes ending the game on a 22-2 run to pull away down the stretch.

Evans ended up shooting 11-for-14 from the field and leading all players with 26 points while pulling down seven rebounds for the Vikes, who improve to 8-5 with the win. Peterson scored 12 points, while Chris McLaughlin scored six and tied Evans for the team lead with seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

Gareau scored 21 points for the Cougars – his second highest total of the season – and also led all players with eight rebounds. Connor Burns scored 12 points and collected seven rebounds, while Zver tied a career high with nine points in a solid 13 minutes off the bench.

The Cougars (5-8) are back in action against No. 2-ranked UBC on Saturday night in Vancouver. Catch the game live at www.canadawest.tv.