Jan 14, 2017

By CJ Pentland, CapU Sports Information Officer

After Capilano went into Nanaimo in November and emerged with a victory, Vancouver Island University returned the favour when they visited North Vancouver on Saturday afternoon and took home a 110-60 win.

VIU stormed out of the gate and never looked back, building up a 31-14 lead after the first quarter and reaching 60 points by the half. The conference's leading scorer, Usama Zaid, had 22 points and seven rebounds at the half, while the team shot over 53 per cent from the floor.

Capilano continued to apply pressure, but each time the Blues looked poised to go on any sort of lengthy run, the Mariners managed to answer right back and stay in front by a comfortable margin.

Zaid finished with a game-high 35 points to go along with 12 rebounds, while Bryson Cox added 26. The Mariners ended up shooting 52.1 per cent from the floor and 41.9 per cent from beyond the arc, while on defence they recorded 13 steals.

For the Blues, Malik Holmes and Mo Karimirad led the scoring with 11 points apiece. VIU caused problems for the Capilano offence all game long, as they shot just 28.4 per cent from the field.

Capilano and VIU are now tied at the top of the PACWEST standings with identical 8-2 records. The Blues' next games come at home on January 26 against Quest University and January 27 against Langara College.