It was an unsuccessful weekend for the Bison men’s and women’s basketball teams, as neither could pick up a victory at home against the Calgary Dinos on Nov. 15 and 16.
The women started things off early Friday afternoon, dropping the first game of the weekend 67-58.
Due to poor discipline on Calgary’s part—the Dinos committed nine first quarter fouls—the Bisons got out to an early lead. Manitoba was in the bonus just over four minutes into the game, and took a 16-12 lead after one quarter of play.
Calgary picked up their tempo in the second quarter. The Dinos took hold of the lead just over three minutes in and never let go. Tamara Jarrett led the charge for the Dinos, going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. The teams headed into the half with Calgary leading 32-26.
Based on strong rebounding and second and third chance points, Calgary pulled away in the fourth quarter, determining the pace of the second half and extending their lead to as much as 16. Calgary outworked Manitoba as the game went along and held the Bisons to 21-for-60 shooting overall in the win.
Jarrett led all scorers with 14 points, while Sheree Carmona-Galdamez pitched in 11 points for the Bisons.
Bison co-head coach Michele Hynes touched on her team’s energy level as a whole, saying, “We talk about it all the time, we are really good when we have five people on the floor playing really hard at the same time.”
“We didn’t have a lot of five people playing hard today.”
The two teams met again the following afternoon as Manitoba looked for some revenge. The Bisons fought hard, but came up just short, losing 65-63.
Calgary opened up an 18-9 lead in the first quarter, and took a 30-23 lead into the half. Jessica Thielen led the Dinos by going 3-for-3 with seven points in the first half.
The third quarter was much of the same. Calgary was fierce on the boards, out-rebounding the Bisons 8-6 on the Manitoba glass, and opening their lead up to 13 after three quarters.
The Bisons showed tons of resolve in the fourth quarter, getting back into the game on the strength of their three-point shooting. Robin Eyer and Jenilyn Monton each hit two from beyond the arc, leading a 15-1 Bison charge with just under six minutes left to play.
Manitoba took their first lead of the game with 3:21 remaining but were unable to hold on as Calgary jumped ahead on a pull-up jumper from Kristie Sheils in the final minute. The Dinos survived Manitoba’s late push to pick up the 65-63 win.
Bison co-head coach Michele Hynes was proud of her team’s overall performance, saying, “We have been in a lot of tight games this year already. It was nice to see some different players step up and I thought we had a good fight.”
With the pair of losses, the Bisons fall to 3-3 on the season, while Calgary improves to 4-2. The next Bison action takes place in B.C., with games on Nov. 22 against the Victoria Vikes at 8 p.m. and Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. against the UBC Thunderbirds.
The men’s basketball team continued their early season woes, falling 86-66 to Calgary at home late Friday afternoon.
The game started out fairly close, with the teams managing nearly identical shooting success. Manitoba was 7-of-17 in the first, whereas Calgary shot 7-of-18. The Dinos took the lead in the dying seconds of the quarter and headed into the second up 18-16.
The Dinos pulled away in the second quarter. Calgary was led by Matt Letkeman’s 11 second quarter points, while Winnipeg native Jared Ogungbemi-Jackson pitched in nine points—including a last second three pointer—which gave Calgary a 16-point lead heading into the break.
Calgary continued to outwork Manitoba in the second half. They maintained a double-digit lead through the third and fourth quarters en route to their first win of the 2013-14 regular season.
The Dinos got major production from Letkeman, who was hard to defend in the paint, and led all shooters with 21 points. Mike Holloway led the Bisons with 12 points and provided energy all game.
“It’s a bit of a gut check,” said Bison head coach Kirby Schepp, speaking about his team’s performance after the game.
“It’s a matter of as a man, how do you feel when somebody out-physically-competes you, and see the way we respond from that.”
The Bisons had a far stronger performance on Saturday afternoon but could not pick up the win, losing an overtime thriller, 89-87.
Calgary led by nine after one quarter, and 10 at the break. Ogungbemi-Jackson led all scorers with 14 points.
The Bisons were a determined force in the second half, picking up their intensity and tying the game with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Ogungbemi-Jackson, however, hit a clutch three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dinos a 62-59 lead heading into a crazy fourth quarter.
The Bisons took their first lead of the game two and a half minutes into the fourth on an Amarjit Basi layup, but it was short-lived. The Dinos retook the lead and led 78-75 as Calgary headed into the final 90 seconds. Basi worked his magic again, scoring a clutch runner with just 23 seconds left, bringing Manitoba to within one. Ogungbemi-Jackson was fouled, but hit only one of two free throws, setting up a dramatic final 11 seconds.
The Bisons put their trust in Basi and it paid off. He darted through the lane and hit his third clutch shot of the game, sending the game into overtime.
The overtime session went back and forth with the majority of points being scored at the free throw line due to the aggressive play from both sides.
The key play of the overtime period occurred in the final 30 seconds with Manitoba down 88-87. Basi could not convert on a layup opportunity, forcing the Bisons to commit a foul. Philip Barndt of Calgary only hit one of two free throws, which opened the door for Manitoba to either tie or win the game in the final six seconds. It was not to be, though, as Yigit Ozsaynier missed a last-second three-pointer, giving Calgary the close win.
The Bisons had five players score in double digits, led by Basi who put up 23 points.
“We were much more competitive today which was nice to see,” said coach Schepp. “You hope sometimes that that competitiveness is rewarded and today, it wasn’t.”
With the defeat, the Bisons fall to 1-5 on the season. Calgary, meanwhile, earned their first two wins and improved to 2-4. The men travel to B.C. this weekend, with games on Nov.22 at 8 p.m. against the Victoria Vikes, and Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. against the UBC Thunderbirds.
