NANAIMO — The VIU Mariners are through to the CCAA National semi-finals after a come from behind win on home court.
The Mariners trailed by nine at half time, but outscored Lakeland 20-12 in the third quarter and 23-17 in the fourth to clinch a spot in the final four through a 76-71 win on Friday, March 25.
Mariners head coach Tony Bryce said there was no panic in the room despite a sluggish first half in front of a capacity crowd at the university gym.
“You have to trust the work you’ve put in and I didn’t think we did a real good job in the first half, we were pretty stagnant…so we talked about trying to play with a little more pace, let’s hit their zone early and see if we could wear them out.”
It was a strategy which ultimately led to a victory with VIU taking advantage of a tired and injured Lakeland as the game went on.
Chloe Scaber led the way offensively, off the bench, with 17 points while Harriette Mackenzie earned player of the game honours for VIU with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Bryce called Lakeland, the number one seed in the tournament, “the real deal” and “phenomenal” after the game but praised his own players for dealing with the pressure of a home court national championship crowd.
“You’ve got energy [from the crowd] and you’ve got to find a balance of having too much energy and being able to channel that energy. We made a couple of mistakes because of the energy but I think that gets better as we move forward in the tournament hopefully.”
Bryce added a key to the win was VIU’s ability to to execute when it mattered and communicate on the defensive end.
VIU will face the winner of the late game on Friday between Dawson and Humber at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 26.
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