The Bisons men’s basketball team defeated the University of Winnipeg Wesmen 90-85 in the Duckworth Challenge on Thursday, Jan. 29 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
The Bisons displayed early promise with an 18-8 lead at 4:30 in the first quarter. Ramogi Nyagudi made a layup at 1:51, assisted by Mason Kraus, to put the Bisons ahead 24-15. Tito Obasoto added two free throws at 0:48 to extend the margin to 28-18. Elijah Mensah then made a layup for the Wesmen at 0:32, cutting the deficit to 28-20.
In the second quarter, Nyagudi scored a layup at 9:11, assisted by Cieran O’Hara, to extend the Bisons’ advantage to 30-20. At 4:53, Wesmen Kato Jaro made a jump shot to tie the game 32-32. Mensah then made a dunk at 0:08 which gave the Wesmen a 44-39 lead at halftime.
At 7:12 in the third quarter, Kraus made a three-point jump shot to reduce the gap 49-43. Kraus made a layup at 3:08, which brought the score to 61-57. With five seconds remaining, Taven Vigilance made a three-point jump shot to cut the Bisons’ deficit to 69-65.
Kraus made a three-point jump shot at 8:28 in the fourth quarter, assisted by Daren Watts, to put the Bisons back in front, 71-69. At 5:51, Jaro made a three-point jump shot to reclaim the lead for the Wesmen, 75-73. Kraus made two free throws at 5:27 to level the game 75-75. At 4:48, Nyagudi made a layup assisted by Kraus to give the Bisons an 80-75 advantage. With 13 seconds remaining, Obasoto made a free throw to stretch the lead to 90-83 and at exactly 0:00, Mensah scored a layup for the Wesmen ending the game on a 90-85 win for the Bisons.
Kraus and Nyagudi said the team shifted momentum in the fourth quarter, which turned the game around in their favour. “We just started to execute,” said Kraus. “Throughout the game we started to pressure Kato, and he made a few mistakes at the end […] You could just see they started to crumble a bit at the end, and we just capitalized. They gave us a few freebies at the rim, a few free threes, which would have killed us at the end, but we just executed our game plan and just kept pushing forward.”
Nyagudi said, “We were playing a lot for ourselves at the start of the fourth.” He continued, “Near the end, we had a little timeout. The coach got us together, he was like, we gotta keep swinging the ball, we gotta keep moving it. We came out of the timeout, got one good possession and started stacking up.”
Kraus spotlighted the team’s mindset, saying, “I feel like at the end, we just wanted it more.” He added “The whole game, [we] had more fouls than them, but then at the end, the refs just let us play […] We were the more physical team at the end.”
Nyagudi shared his feelings after taking part in his first Duckworth Challenge for the Bisons. He pointed out what sets this game apart from others. “I always come to the game and everything is the same. It’s the same game. The only difference is the crowd […] But one thing I’ll say, it reminded me of St. Paul’s —my last game.” He revealed, “At the end of the day, I’m just grateful to be in a position to play in a game this big.”
In the second game on Saturday, Jan. 31, the Bisons lost 91-79 against the Wesmen at the Duckworth Centre.
The Bisons men’s basketball team will host the Brandon Bobcats on Friday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. CT and Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. CT at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
