The Bisons men’s basketball team lost 87-79 to the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds in the Canada West championship semifinals on Saturday, March 1 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
The Thunderbirds took a 5-0 lead at the 8:41 mark of the first quarter, but Brandt Lenz made a three-point jump shot for the Bisons, assisted by Daren Watts, at 8:31 to narrow the gap to 5-3.
At 5:39, Mason Kraus made a three-point jump shot, assisted by Lenz, to tie the game at 13-13. Kraus made a three-point jump shot at 4:59, giving the Bisons a 16-13 lead. At 2:11, Watts made a three-point jump shot, assisted by Taven Vigilance, pushing the Bisons ahead 21-15.
However, Micah Jessie made a three-point jump shot for the Thunderbirds at the 0:27 mark to level the game at 21-21.
At 7:30 in the second quarter, Lenz made a jump shot to give the Bisons a 28-21 lead. Fareed Shittu made a dunk at 5:19, putting the Thunderbirds ahead 31-28. At the 2:19 mark, Watts made a layup, assisted by Vigilance, to give the Bisons a 36-35 lead.
Gus Goerzen made a three-point jump shot at 1:00, pushing the Thunderbirds back to a 40-36 advantage. The Thunderbirds extended their lead to 42-39 at 0:21, but Kraus made two free throws at 0:00 for the Bisons, cutting the deficit to 42-41 as the game headed into halftime.
In the third quarter, Nikola Guzina made a layup at 8:24, giving the Thunderbirds a 50-41 lead. At 3:01, Shittu made a free throw to extend their lead to 60-47. The Bisons responded at 2:09, when Cieran O’Hara made a layup, assisted by Kraus, narrowing the gap to 60-51. O’Hara then added two free throws at 0:18, bringing the score to 62-55.
In the fourth quarter, Kraus made a three-point jump shot at 7:42, narrowing the score to 66-65. At 6:37, Lenz made a three-point jump shot, assisted by O’Hara, giving the Bisons a 70-68 lead.
The Thunderbirds regained control at 2:05 with an 80-70 lead, following two free throws by Victor Radocaj. The Bisons fought back, and at 0:18, Tito Obasoto made a layup, bringing the score to 84-79. However, Tobi Akinkunmi made a free throw at the 0:06 mark, securing an 87-79 victory for the Thunderbirds.
The Bisons men’s basketball coach Kirby Schepp spoke about the game.
“I was really proud of the way the guys battled. We get one more chance of Victoria next week,” said Schepp.
“It got to be a little more disciplined in terms of hitting early, packing the pain. We just have to get superior numbers in the paint and we were not able to do that.”
Kraus reflected on the match. “Some of our main guys got in foul trouble, like myself, Daren and Cieran, and then they just bodied us on the glass,” he said. “We just had to be more physical, but today we weren’t. They were coming down hard, and we didn’t match their intensity in the game.”
He shared his thoughts on how the Thunderbirds capitalized on their rebounding advantage.
“We were hit and miss. Like the third quarter, we went on a good run, because we started rebounding,” said Kraus. “Then late in the game, they took it away from us, and they started pressing us in. We just got to keep it consistent. We didn’t do that in this game, and so they took it from us.”
He touched on their upcoming game against the Victoria Vikes.
“We have to take out Victoria. That will be an interesting game. We play them at their own gym. They just lost to Calgary, who we split with, so it will be an interesting matchup,” he said.
The Bisons men’s basketball team will play the Victoria Vikes in a bronze medal game on Friday, March 7 at 9 p.m. CST in B.C.
