Renoldo Robinson wasn’t even born the last time the University of Victoria Vikes lifted the Canadian men’s university basketball championship trophy.
On Sunday, Robinson helped cut down the net down after the Vikes defeated the Calgary Dinos 82-53 to win their first title in 28 years in the men’s basketball Final 8 championship game at UBC’s War Memorial Gymnasium.
“Man, it feels amazing,” said Robinson, a six-foot-three guard from Montreal, who led both teams with 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. “I’m so happy and grateful.”
Victoria was playing without star player Diego Maffia, the team’s all-time scoring leader, who suffered a knee injury in January.
Victoria built a comfortable 40-23 lead at halftime, hitting 17 of their 43 baskets.
WATCH | Victoria Vikes rout Calgary Dinos in men’s basketball title game:
Watch the U Sports men’s basketball gold medal game between the University of Victoria Vikes and University of Calgary Dinos from the University of British Columbia’s War Memorial Gym in Vancouver. *Commentary audio begins just before tip-off*
Head coach Murphy Burnatowski said watching his team lift the trophy and celebrate with friends and family in the stands was like being in a dream.
“I don’t think I’ve really had time to process it,” said the first-year coach. “It’s amazing. I feel like it was really a fairy tale year for us. The way I’ve seen the boys come together as a team and a family, it’s truly unbelievable.”
The win was also some revenge for the No. 4-seeded Vikes who lost 77-68 to Calgary in last month’s Canada West semifinal after Victoria went 20-0 during the regular season.
“They’re the team that ruined our perfect season,” said Burnatowski. “That’s in the back of everyone’s minds. We were laser focused this entire week.”
The Vikes won seven consecutive titles between 1980 and 1986 but had not advanced to the championship game since 2006, losing to Carleton. Victoria last won the title in 1997 with a win over McMaster.
“My first year, I didn’t really know much about the Vikes,” said Robinson, who was born in 2001 and is playing in his third season in Victoria.
One of the keys to Victoria’s victory was containing Calgary’s Nate Petrone, who was named the U Sports men’s basketball player of the year earlier in the week after leading the country with 484 points in 20 games.
Petrone didn’t score until he hit a free throw in the second quarter and finished the game with 10 points.
Victoria’s Sam Maillet, named the U Sports men’s defensive player of the year, said stopping Petrone was a team effort.
“Nate is an amazing player and so skilled,” said Maillet, a fifth-year guard from Moncton, N.B. “We had guys we could just throw at him. We just kept the pressure up and did the best we could, and we did a good job.”
Alan Spoonhunter led the Dinos with 20 points, while Dylan Lutes had 15 rebounds.
Calgary coach Dan Vanhooren said he was proud of the way his team played.
“We showed up and the kids played hard,” he said. “We just couldn’t get anything to fall.”
Victoria advanced to the final with a 89-75 upset over the top-seeded Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday.
Calgary, seeded second in the tournament, defeated the University of P.E.I. Panthers 87-54 in the other semifinal final.
Earlier, Ottawa beat P.E.I. 86-70 to take the bronze medal.
Calgary won the title in 2018 then lost to Carleton in the 2019 final.