At Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, the University of Calgary Dinos and the University of Victoria Vikes will be playing for gold and glory in the U Sports men’s basketball national championship game today at 1 p.m.
It’s a battle of the West rematch as the Dinos and Vikes have already faced off this postseason. After going 16–4 in the regular season, Calgary pulled off a 77–68 upset over the undefeated Victoria in the Canada West semifinal, giving them the second seed into Final 8.
“It is definitely a familiar foe,” said the Dinos’ Nate Petrone after their semifinal win on Friday. “We know their players very well, they know us very well. It’s going to be very physical.”
Petrone has been a standout player for Calgary, and after being named the U Sports men’s basketball Player of the Year, he has made a huge impact on the court. In Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup, he earned 26 points and 8 assists and managed to top that in their semifinal game — just shy of a triple double with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
Victoria’s strong defence, fuelled by U Sports Defensive Player of the Year Sam Maillet, will likely try to put a stop to the high-scoring Petrone. Maillet has been a standout for the Vikes this tournament with contributions all over the court. He had 18 points in their quarterfinal and a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the semifinals. Geoffrey James has been another key piece for Victoria, especially offensively, putting up 15 points in the quarterfinals and 21 points and 7 rebounds in the semifinals.
“I told [James] before this tournament we’re gonna need him to step up and he picked a timely time to do it and I’m happy he did,” said Victoria’s head coach Murphy Burnatowski after their semifinal win.
Both teams have had commanding wins to continue advancing through the tournament, but this game will likely be a close and intense battle. They match up fairly, both even dealing with some injuries. Victoria has been finding their way without star guard Diego Maffia since January and Calgary has lost two of their starters in this tournament, but neither team has let this stop them.
“I think that's one thing that's kept us in games and kept us going is our ability to move the ball and play together,” said Burnatowski.
This is the Vikes’ first national title game since 2006 as they chase their ninth gold medal. With the Dinos’ looking to get only their second national title in all of program history, this championship matchup will be nothing less than thrilling.
This article is part of our 2025 Final 8 coverage. Follow us at @UbysseySports on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, as well as @theubyssey on TikTok, to follow our U Sports basketball coverage starting March 12.
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