UVI's Buccaneers men's basketball squad won all three of its games in the pre-season Intercollegiate Sports Exchange Foundation (ICSEF) Exhibition Basketball Tournament in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The Buccaneers opened the tourney with a convincing, 10-point victory over American University of the Caribbean, winning 70-60, on Jan. 23. Their closest game of the tourney was the 76-72 win over the University of St. Maarten on Jan. 24. Trevor Jones led the Bucs with 21 points in the matchup. The Bucs finished the tourney on Jan. 25, local league champions Lightning, 95-88. Collin Pfingst and Chris Lockhart contributed, 20 and 19 points, respectively, in the efforts.
The goal of the ICSEF, which was founded in 2003, is to foster friendly relationships and networking among neighboring universities and colleges and U.S.-based schools. UVI alumnus Robenson Gassant is now working with the foundation which has an immediate goal of providing students on St. Martin/St. Maarten a chance to attend college while playing basketball.
The Buccaneers and Lady Bucs next turn their attention to regular Liga Atletica Interuniversity (LAI) season play this weekend in Puerto Rico. The Buccaneers’ first game is at UPR-Humacao at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31. The Lady Bucs open their LAI season against Sacred Heart at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1. That game is followed by a matchup between the UVI men's squad and the Sacred Heart men's squad at 6 p.m.