On Friday, The Bison men’s basketball team fell in a nail-biter to the University of Alberta Golden Bears, 88-85. With the loss, Manitoba falls to 2-5, while Alberta improves to 7-0 in Canada West division play.
The Herd kept the game close for the most part, but Alberta’s high flying offense was still the deciding factor.
“Defensively I didn’t think we faired all that well,” Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp said. “They’re probably one of the best shooting teams, maybe the best shooting team in the league.”
Keith Omoerah led the home side with a double-double of 18 points and ten rebounds. Justus Alleyn added another 17 points, and James Wagner put up 16 more. Alberta was led by Austin Waddoups, who scored a game-high 31 points.
The first half featured a lot of back and forth play, and resulted in a 47-42 halftime lead for the visitors. Alleyn led in scoring for the home side with 13 points, while Waddoups had 21 points at the half, including five three-pointers. Joey Nitychoruk also netted eight points to help keep Manitoba in the game. Alberta was able to knock down shots from beyond the arc, which was the difference in the half – they made eight 3-pointers to the Bisons’ four.
Alberta added to their lead to start the third quarter, but a late rally from Omoerah and Alleyn cut the lead back down to five points entering the final frame. The home side went on a 7-0 run, and reduced the lead to three with under a minute to play. After two missed Alberta free throws, Manitoba had one last shot to tie the game with a three, but missed on two attempts from beyond the arc.
