LANGFORD, B.C. – The Bishop's Gaiters men's basketball team suffered their third loss of the season on Thursday, as they fell to the University of Victoria Vikes, 92-84 at Belmont Secondary School in Langford, B.C.
 
Jordan Charles led the way for the Vikes putting up the game's only double-double of 29 points and 11 rebounds, while also going 6-for-8 from three-point land. Mason Loewen added 22 points and second-year guard Scott Kellum added 13.
 
The Gaiters were led by Abdul Kamane (Montreal, Que./Vanier College) who didn't disappoint with 25 points and nine rebounds. David Belanger (Sherbrooke, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert) had a 16-point night with seven boards, while Joany Castor Thadal (Saint-Leonard, Que./Champlain-St. Lambert) had 11 points.
 
Gaiters forward Kamane put up his team's first two buckets and a free throw to put the home side on their heels. Kellum hit from beyond the arc to tie the game at five, as the Vikes enjoyed two open looks from the perimeter from Charles to toggle the lead. Back-to-back threes from Graeme Hyde-Lay and then Justin Kinnear put the home side up by six as Bishop's struggled to finish in the paint. Charles' lay-up with seconds to go lifted the Vikes by seven, up 23-16, but a buzzer-beating three from Kasey Paul-Buzas (Montreal, Que./) cut the Vikes' lead to 23-19 entering the first break.
 
Both teams were neck-in-neck thanks to big points from Charles for the Vikes and Kamane for the Gaiters. Teams traded buckets, exchanging the lead until Mason Loewen stripped Harvey Matou (Paris, France/Cegep de Thetford) at center court to go in for a huge dunk and send the Vikes up 43-37. On the Vikes' next possession Charles followed it up with another three-pointer and Bishop's were quick to call a time out. Kamane continued to keep his team in check, keeping the Gaiters within four, down 43-39, but Charles served up his sixth trey of the night to get Victoria back up 46-40 with less than a minute on the clock. Charles got his hands in the way of Kamane to drive the hoop, earn the foul and put away the buckets from the charity stripe to give the Vikes an encouraging 48-40 lead by half time.
 
In the third quarter Alex Boisse burned through a layer of defence on route to the hoop but six-foot-eight Lejeune denied the third-year guard a bucket to keep the game 64-49 for the Vikes. A nice 8-0 run from Victoria gave a cushioned lead thanks to some solid one-on-one displays from Hyde-Lay and Loewen. Loewen's fade-away three lifted the Vikes 72-54 with under a minute but the team's continued to trade buckets from Belanger's jump shot for Bishop's to Kinnear's layup for the Vikes and a final Gaiters three from Boisse to leave the score at 74-59 for Victoria.
 
Belanger got the Gaiters going in the fourth putting up six quarter-opening points as the visitors out-scored the Vikes 25-18. Bishop's had 24 points come from their bench, while the Vikes put away 11 three pointers to take the game 92-84.
 
The Gaiters head to Vancouver for a pair of games at the UBC Invitational. On Friday, they will face the host UBC Thunderbirds, with tipoff scheduled for 10 p.m. (7 p.m. local time). On Saturday, they close out the weekend against the Alberta Golden Bears. That game will get underway at 8 p.m. (5 p.m. local).