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CITY (NewsDakota.com)–It’s off to Canada for the Viking men’s basketball team.
The Vikings will travel to Winnipeg for the 45th annual Wesman Classic tournament at the University of Winnipeg Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
The tournament is a pleasantly unusual one for college basketball, as eight teams compete in a true bracketed tournament, played out from seventh place to the championship game.
The Vikings play the featured game of the opening round, facing the University of Manitoba at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
Valley City State enters the game 10-4 overall, 2-0 in Association of Independent Institutions (AII) play. They won their last two games, going on the road to defeat Johnson and Wales, CO, and Northern New Mexico College two weeks ago.
Manitoba is currently 8-6 overall, winning their last two matchups at the Duckworth Centre, the site of the tournament, defeating the University of Winnipeg twice, 87-70 and 99-80, with the latest game played December 1st, the last game the Bisons competed in.
The Vikings defeated Manitoba in the opening round of the tournament in 2009, a game that was technically an exhibition for Valley City State. They then lost a 72-68 decision to Bishops University in the semifinals. Either counting the Manitoba or defeating Bishops likely would have sent that Viking team to a national tournament. Their official 0-2 performance did not impress the raters, and they were eventually left out of national tourney consideration.
This year’s first round will see the University of British Columbia face the University of Brandon. UBC, from Vancouver, is 4-2 overall, and competes in the Canada West conference, west division. Brandon is 3-5, and competes in Canada West, east divison.
Minot State will face UBC-Okanagan, from Kelowna, BC. Minot State is 1-12 overall, their lone win a double overtime win over the University of Mary. They are NCAA Division II independent this season, and will compete in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference next year. UBC-Okanagan is 1-5 overall, and competes in Canada West, west divison.
In the third game, the University of Winnipeg meets Keyano College, an independent institution in Fort McMurray, AB. Winnipeg is 2-6 overall, and is a Canada West-east division school. At last report, Keyano College was 3-3.
The tournament continues Thursday and concludes Friday. Wednesday’s VCSU game will be heard on Dakota Country Radio, starting with an 8:15 p.m. pregame show. Thursday’s game will be on Q101, and Friday’s station will be announced Thursday.