Posted: Jan 23, 2016
With a sweep of both games against the visiting Victoria Vikes this weekend the Winnipeg Wesmen moved ahead of their West Coast rivals for sixth place in the Canada West Pioneer Division.
The Wesmen (7-5) completed the sweep Saturday in the Dr. David F. Anderson gymnasium inside the Duckworth Centre with a 77-64 win. With the loss the Vikes are now 7-7 on the season.
Wesman coach Mike Raimbault said the weekend sweep, which extended his team's win streak to four games, was crucial as teams battle for playoff positioning in the tight Pioneer Division.
"It was huge for us to try and keep some momentum going," said Raimbault. "When the guys started to play together as a group the game became easier for us. We had some success doing it and it's hopefully something we can build off of."
Four Wesmen were in double digits in scoring with Jelane Pryce leading the way with 22 and Denzel Lynch-Blair putting up 19, Jamar Farley 18 and Ryan Oirbans 12. The Vikes were lead by Reiner Theil's 15 points, Brandon Dunlop's 14 and Jordan Charles' 13. The leader in rebounds was the Wesmen freshman William Sesay with seven, while Victoria's Mack Roth had six.
The Wesmen opened up a 10-3 lead to start the first quarter until the Vikes' fifth-year guard Thiel hit a pair of threes and a two-point basket to close the gap. Lynch-Blair led the Wesmen with 10 points in the quarter, while his fifth-year teammate Pryce had six points. The Wesmen held a 20-16 lead after 10 minutes.
Victoria took the lead after a 14-1 run to start the second quarter. The Wesmen didn't get their first two-point basket until fourth-year guard Farley hit the net with less than three minutes to play in the half. After Farley hit a late three the Wesmen trailed at the half 32-29.
Dunlop led the Vikes in scoring in the first half with nine points and five rebounds, while Thiel contributed eight points, three boards. For the Wesmen, Lynch-Blair had 11 points and Farley had seven points, while Pryce had eight points.
After a similar slow start to the third quarter it was the Wesmen who used a 11-2 run to retake the lead. Two threes from Dunlop and a four points from Thiel kept the Vikes in the game heading into the final quarter. The Wesmen held a 47-46 point lead after Pryce's last second shot for three danced around the rim but didn't drop as the buzzer sounded.
The Wesmen had an offensive charge to start the fourth quarter, outscoring the Vikes 11-2 in the early going to open up a 10-point advantage. Farley hit his fourth three-pointer of the game after the Vikes fourth-year forward Grant Sitton hit a three of his own to close the scoring gap. After some back and forth, Sitton hit three foul shots to help the Vikes close within five of Winnipeg at 63-58 in the dying minutes.
Farley hit six points in the dying seconds – four from the foul line – to keep the Vikes in arrears.
"He has some experience for us and he's comfortable out there and has definitely paid his dues over the course of the year," said Raimbault. "We're confident when he steps up there he's going to be aggressive and knock down the free throws when we need them."
The Wesmen will try to extend their win streak to five games next weekend when the Saskatchewan Huskies (4-8) visit Winnipeg on Jan. 29 and 30 for games at 8 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.