CALGARY – In a rematch of last year's national final, the Victoria Vikes once again got the best of the University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team with a 100-86 win in Friday's U SPORTS Final 8 quarterfinal inside the Jack Simpson Gym.

The Vikes outscored the Dinos 31-13 in the second quarter and connected on 52% of its threes (13-25) for the game to advance to Saturday's semifinal showdown with No. 4 Bishop's.

Hosting the Final 8 for the first time since 1980, the Dinos started strong but the Vikes got to the line early and often to help build momentum before coasting in the second half. Calgary will now go up against Acadia in a consolation semifinal Saturday at 2 p.m.

Dre Francis got things going early for Calgary, helping get the sellout crowd of 2,476 to their feet early.

Victoria countered with red-hot three-point shooting, connecting on four three pointers in the opening frame for a 26-20 edge after one.

The second was all visitors. The Vikes shot 60% from the floor overall (9-15), including 3-4 from behind the arc to go with 10-12 from the free throw line in building 57-33 lead at the break.

Calgary did its best in the second half, outscoring the Vikes in each of the final two quarters. Eli Djordjevic scoring seven of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter to help keep the Dinos in this one. 

But Victoria's big lead proved to be too much to overcome, with Geoffrey James leading the way for the visitors with 17 points on 4-5 shooting from deep.

Day 2 of the Final 8 resumes Saturday with games starting at 12 p.m. The host Dinos return to their home court at 2 p.m. before the semifinals are set for 5 and 7 p.m.

-UC-