Alyssa Etsell, Bison Sports
WINNIPEG— The University of Manitoba Bisons outperformed the Trinity Western Spartans to take a 92-62 win Saturday night (Jan. 19) at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
Manitoba dominated early on, but Trinity Western came to compete in the second and third quarters, though ultimately falling short in the fourth.
"I thought we competed," said Spartans head coach Aaron Muhic.
"In the first quarter, Manitoba came out and hit us hard. They scored a lot of points really fast and they were playing really well. I just encouraged our guys to keep it close going into the third. Our guys responded really well, we just didn't control tempo enough."
The Bisons led by 30 points for most of the last quarter, effectively capturing the win.
"I mean, it was a solid performance again. Trinity certainly came out with a lot more fire second game, especially in the second quarter," said Bison head coach Kirby Schepp. "They did some things that we struggled to guard a little bit, but certainly in the third and fourth we bounced back."
With the win, Manitoba improves their record to 7-9, and Trinity Western remains winless at a record of 0-16.
In the first half of the third quarter, the Spartans got some legs and creeped closer and closer to the Bisons lead, closing the distance to just 11 points between the two scores. A series of three-pointers by Keiran Zziwa and Zach Giesbrecht insured the Herd kept a noticeable lead, despite the advances made by the visiting team. The quarter closed with a substantial Manitoba lead at 71-48.
Josiah Allison and Ethan DaSilva tied for most points at 13 each for the Spartans. DaSilva also chocked the most rebounds and assists, both at 10. For the Bisons, Rashawn Browne had the most points at 14 and the most rebounds at 9, while Malik Irwin tallied the most assists at 6.
In the first quarter, from the first basket of the night, the Bisons dominated, heading into the second quarter leading by 14 points. In the last seconds of play in the second, the Spartans intercepted a home team pass and slam-dunked to make what would seem like the last basket of the quarter. Giesbrecht, however, changed that with a cross-court three-point buzzer beater for the Bisons, and the game went into the second half with a 44-28 score.
At half, Josiah Allison led in points for TWU, scoring 10 of the team's 28 points. For the Bisons, Rashawn Browne led with 11.
As the regular season ends and playoffs approach, Schepp says the team just has to continue to focus on getting better.
"There are a lot of things we can do defensively better for sure, I think probably our offensive execution could be a lot better than it was today," he said. "It only gets tougher, I mean, we're on the road in Kamloops and we only have four games left, we need every one of them."
The Bisons play next on the road and take on the Thompson Rivers WolfPack next weekend, Jan. 25. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. PST.
For Trinity Western, they'll play the Lethbridge Pronghorns on the road on the 25th; game starts at 8 p.m. MST. You can watch both matches live online at CanadaWest.TV.