One Mo' Time Versus Royce Da 5'9"

VIU heads to Vancouver to close the regular season against fifth-years Moeiz Athaya, Royce Sargeant, and the Langara Falcons

VIU guard Peter Li follows his shot while Langara guard Royce Sargeant looks on at the 2023 PACWEST Basketball Championships at Camosun College. Photo: Athena Pimental
VIU guard Peter Li (#7) follows his shot while Langara guard Royce Sargeant looks on at the 2023 PACWEST Basketball Championships at Camosun College. Photo: Athena Pimental
February 22, 2024

NANAIMO, B.C. - The last decade and a half of PACWEST men's basketball has featured some incredible battles between stars on Langara and VIU. The final games of the 2023-24 regular season look to be no different with the league-leading Mariners visiting a Falcons team that will celebrate the final home games of guard Royce Sargeant and forward Moeiz Athaya.

VIU (20-2) at Langara (11-11)

  • Friday, February 23 at 8 p.m. & Saturday, February 24 at 3 p.m.
  • Previous matchups: VIU swept Langara in December 2023, 92-76 and 84-76
  • Games will be streamed live via the Langara Falcons YouTube page. 

AT STAKE

While the Mariners have clinched top spot in the conference, the Falcons are in a bottleneck in the middle of the PACWEST standings. Columbia Bible College, which has no games remaining, is in third place with 24 points while Capilano and Langara have two games remaining and are in the 4th and 5th spots with 22 points each. The team that finishes third will face the sixth-seed in the conference quarter-finals. This will be either the Douglas Royals or Okanagan Coyotes, pending the outcome of the final weekend of the season. The fourth and fifth seeds will play each other with the winner facing VIU in the semifinals.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Langara: No surprises here: fifth-years Royce Sargeant (conference top scorer at 19.7 points per game) and Moeiz Athaya (conference's third-leading scorer at 16.3 ppg) will look to make a mark in the final home games of their careers. Athaya is the all-time leading scorer in PACWEST men's basketball history while Sargeant memorably put up 53 points in a provincial semifinal versus VIU last season.

VIU: Jakob Poulton was named VIU and PACWEST men's basketball athlete of the week last week as he drained 17 points in a big Saturday win over the second-place Camosun Chargers.