WINNIPEG - The Manitoba Bisons men's basketball team defeated the visiting Brandon Bobcats by a score of 93-78 on Friday, November 14, 2014 in the 2014 Spirit Cup at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
 
"I think the biggest thing was probably rebounding," said head coach Kirby Schepp. "We out-rebounded them 64-50 which is probably the biggest difference in the game. I think it made up for some of our sometimes not-smart play."
 
The Bisons jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, capitalizing on their chances from the charity stripe and shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the line to go into the second quarter leading the Bobcats 24-12.
 
Brandon did a better job of keeping pace with the Bisons in the second quarter, and kept Manitoba off the free throw line until late in the half. The Bobcats slowly chipped away at Manitoba's lead – even briefly taking it – until a late foul gave Manitoba's Justus Alleyn three shots at the line to tie things up at 39 apiece to go into the half.
 
Both teams played a lot more physical basketball in the second half, with each team trying to capitalize on the early penalties and get themselves to the line. Brandon went to the line 12 times in the third quarter alone, compared to their 14 total attempts in the second half, but still found themselves down 54-63 at the start of the final quarter.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter, Bisons forward Jonathon Alexander exploded to the rim for a dunk. A brief altercation followed, and fouls were called on both sides of the court, leaving four Bobcats players with four fouls each. The Bisons continued to drive to the rim and force more fouls, and Manitoba pushed toward a lead late in the fourth quarter to close out with a win.
 
Amarjit Basi had a monster night from beyond the arc, shooting 5-for-9 from the three-point line and netting 25 points, while Andre Arruda was close behind with 23 points. Two Bisons also had big nights on the boards as Wyatt Anders and Alfreeman Flowers recorded 16 rebounds apiece.
 
Earl Thompson Jr. led the way for the Bobcats with 20 points, and Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
 
With the win, the Manitoba Bisons improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Brandon Bobcats are still looking for their first win of the season after dropping to 0-5.
 
Both teams will face off again on Saturday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m. CT at Investors Group Athletic Centre to finish their weekend series.