Sports : Sixteen straight wins on the basketball court: Vikings hold off CPU, 68-62

Pink Night: Vikings wore pink socks as they raised money to fight breast cancer.

Grant and Nolan Sagan on offense in the second half.

Pink Night: Kelyn Rickels' 7 straight points put the Vikes ahead to stay; notice the reflections.

The VSHS Pep Band dressed in pink...

as did most in the student sections.

Grant Sagan again led the Vikings in scoring.

Nolan Sagan goes up for a shot.

Max Kearns was one of 4 Vikings to score in double digits.

Athlete of the Week: Max Griffith tied the game with 2 early 3-point shots.

Chris Merchant

Kelyn Rickels and Grant Sagan keep a CPU player from scoring.

Grant Sagan attempts a 3-point shot.

Grant Sagan drives toward the basket.

This play by Grant Sagan erased CPU's final lead.

The fans in the student section make a silent gesture of support before a Grant Sagan free throw.

Viking fans, dressed in pink shirts, show support during a free throw attempt.

Full court press: Chris Merchant and Max Griffith double team a CPU player.

Max Kearns goes for a steal under the CPU basket....

... and gets the ball.

The top-ranked, unbeaten Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings kept their perfect season intact on Friday, defeating Center Point-Urbana, 68-62.

The Vikings again trailed early in the first quarter, as the Stormin' Pointers hit two quick 3-point shots and took a 6-1 lead. The CPU lead was 11-5 until Max Griffith hit to straight 3-pointers to tie it. Another 3-pointer gave the Stormin' Pointers their final lead, 14-11. But the Vikings quickly scored five; and a free throw by Grant Sagan gave the Vikings a 16-14 lead. The quarter ended with the Vikings ahead 21-19. After CPU tied the game at 21 to begin the second quarter, seven straight points by Kelyn Rickels gave the Vikings the lead for good, 28-21.

But CPU never stopped battling. The Vikings led by 10 with 10 minutes to play, six with six minutes remaining and their lead was reduced to four with four minutes left.

But the Viking defense toughened, forcing some late turnovers and helping them to extend the lead to 10. Two CPU baskets late in the game reduced the Viking lead to 5 before the Vikings' final free throw made the final margin 68-62.

Grant Sagan again led the Vikings with 21 points, and 14 rebounds.

See complete stats HERE.

Remaining schedule, room for improvement

At 16-0, the Vikings still have room for improvement in several areas, and some things to "clean up" on defense, said Coach Joe Johnson. The Vikings have five more regular season games before their post-season begins with District play next month. The team travels to Waterloo Columbus and Benton Community next week before closing the regular season with three straight home games. See the complete schedule and scores from this season's contests HERE.

Pink Night

Both the Vikings and Stormin' Pointers wore pink t-shirts in place of the traditional warm-ups as part of the annual Pink Night. The fund-raiser will to towards the mammography unit at Virginia Gay Hospital. The players' pink shirts, each with their last names and numbers on them, were sold by silent auction. Viking players also wore pink socks with their uniforms and tossed pink shirts to the crowd after the pre-game introductions.

The girls Pink Night takes place next Friday, Feb. 1.