His long-range lasers have lit up ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West gyms for five seasons and now Diego Maffia sits on the cusp of becoming the career leading scorer in University of Victoria Vikes men’s basketball history. He trails all-time Vikes scoring leader and former Canadian national team player Spencer McKay by 54 points and could break the UVic career mark over two ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West games this weekend.
But team success matters more than individual accomplishments, says Maffia, especially when the top-two ranked teams in the country are set to meet as the U Sports national top-ranked Vikes play the U Sports national No. 2-ranked UBC Thunderbirds tonight and Saturday at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.
“If you can’t get motivated for this, then there’s something wrong with you,” said Maffia.
“We’re all excited. This is going to be a battle, that’s for sure, and they [Thunderbirds] will be pumped at home against us.”
The Vikes are 11-1 overall and 4-0 in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West, as is UBC, and the weekend results could go a long way in deciding whether the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West Final Four playoffs, to be hosted by the highest seed in March, will be played in War Memorial Gym or on Ken and Kathy Shields Court in CARSA gym.
“If we want to host in the playoffs, these are the regular-season games we have to win,” said Maffia.
“We have to rebound and transition well against a team like UBC.”
That has shunted Maffia’s individual aspirations, which otherwise would have been the focus of the weekend set, a bit to the background, which is fine by him: “Individual accomplishments feel good but I just want to win.”
But the all-time career team scoring record approaches, regardless: “It seems inevitable [now by where the numbers stand], but I didn’t start out my career by chasing it, and it will be an honour because I have nothing but respect for the players on that all-time UVic scoring list.”
McKay, who represented ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in the Pan Am Games and FIBA World Cup, had 1,657 career ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West regular-season points between 1986 and 1991. Maffia relegated 2000 Sydney Olympian Eric Hinrichsen, who had 1,586 points for UVic between 1994 and 1999, to third place on the all-time Vikes list and now sits second at 1,603 points.
The schedule has conspired to almost assure that Maffia will break the career team scoring record on the road. If he doesn’t do it this weekend at War Memorial, it would then likely be next weekend when the Vikes visit Abbotsford to play the Fraser Valley Cascades to close out the first portion of the season.
“I wish it could be at home but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen,” said Maffia, of the scheduling fates.
The first chance on home court for UVic fans to laud Maffia’s pending career milestone will be after the Christmas break on Jan. 10 against the Trinity Western Spartans.
Meanwhile, the UVic-UBC ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ West women’s basketball games this weekend are also notable as the Vikes are 3-1 in conference heading into War Memorial Gym to play the U Sports national third-ranked Thunderbirds (4-0).
