The Bisons men’s basketball team continued their strong run, defeating the Alberta Golden Bears 85-79 on Friday, Jan. 16.
The Bisons made an early impact, taking a 10-6 lead at 6:31 in the first quarter. The Bears responded and briefly took control, moving ahead 16-13 at the 4:06 mark. Tito Obasoto made a jump shot at 2:56 to put the Bisons back in front 17-16. Daren Watts followed with a layup at 1:24 to extend the lead to 23-19. Mason Kraus came up with a steal at 1:10 and scored a layup at 1:05, pushing the advantage to 25-19. With 35 seconds remaining in the quarter, Watts scored again on a layup, assisted by Jonam Kazadi, giving the Bisons a 27-19 lead.
At the 9:07 mark in the second quarter, Kraus made a three-point jump shot, assisted by Cieran O’Hara, to stretch their lead to 31-19. Obasoto made a jump shot at 6:20, keeping their advantage 35-23. Kraus hit two free throws at 4:33 to extend their lead to 42-28. At 0:56, Manyang Tong made a free throw, bringing the score to 45-33 at halftime, as late chances from Obasoto at 0:11 and Watts at 0:07 went unanswered.
The Bears staged a strong comeback in the third quarter, taking control with a 49-48 lead at the 5:00 mark after a jump shot by Isaac Simon. At 3:33, Kyle Varner followed with a three-point jump to extend their lead to 52-48. The Bisons responded at 2:34 when Obasoto scored on a layup, assisted by Kraus, to reclaim a 53-52 advantage. Fahad Yusuf made a three-point jump shot for the Bears at 1:35 to tie the game 55-55. At 0:01, Taven Vigilance made a three-point jump shot, assisted by Kraus, to give the Bisons a 61-56 lead.
The Bears refused to back down, tying the game 62-62 on Logan Powell’s layup at 8:13 in the fourth quarter. Later, Kraus took control, hitting two free throws at 2:52 to push the Bisons to a 79-72 lead. Kraus added another free throw at 1:21 to make it 81-77. The Bisons sealed an 85-79 victory when Obasoto scored on a layup with six seconds remaining.
In the second game on Saturday, Jan. 17, the Bisons recorded an 88-66 loss against the Bears.
In the first quarter, the Bears went ahead 8-2 at 6:34, but Watts made a free throw at 5:21 to level the game 8-8. The Bears regained control and extended their lead to 18-10 at 3:17. At 0:33, Tong converted two free throws to cut the Bisons’ deficit to 26-16.
The Bears stayed in control throughout the second quarter. They led 36-19 advantage at 7:14 and pushed the advantage to 48-19 at the 4:11 mark. Kraus made a three-point jump shot at 1:36, reducing the deficit to 51-30.
Yusuf hit a three-point jump shot for the Bears at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter to increase the lead to 60-38. Obasoto made a layup at 2:43 to make the score 64-47. At 1:15, Kraus made two free throws to reduce the gap to 67-50. The Bears went ahead 71-50 at 0:04.
At 4:13 in the fourth quarter, the Bears pushed their lead to 81-57. The Bisons tried to rally late when Obasoto made a three-point jump shot at 1:45, assisted by Kazadi. The effort fell short as the Bears stayed composed and closed out the game with an 88-66 win.
The Bisons men’s basketball team will host the MacEwan Griffins on Friday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. CT and Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. CT at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
