Box Score WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Bisons men's basketball team looked to snap their losing streak – and break Fraser Valley's winning streak – after Friday night's last-second heartbreaking loss on Saturday, January 11 at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
After a tight, physical game that saw Manitoba claw back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Fraser Valley Cascades held on to beat the Manitoba Bisons 84-83 after the Bisons last second shot did not drop. With the win, the Cascades improve to 7-5 on the season and extend their win streak to four games. Manitoba drops to 1-11 on the year with the loss and now has lost ten consecutive conference games.
The Cascades were led by Jasper Moedt, who finished the game with a double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Kevon Parchmen was close behind with 22 points.
Dan Penner also finished the night with a double-double for the Bisons with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Mike Holloway and
Andre Arruda each had 17 points for Manitoba, and
Amarjit Basi finished with 14 points, six of which came from two key three-pointers late in the fourth.
"It couldn't have been any closer," said Bisons Head Coach
Kirby Schepp. "That was kind of a coin-flip game."
Both teams went back-and-forth in the first quarter, and the Cascades looked to take control of the game after an 11-point lead late in the second quarter. But Manitoba stepped up defensively late in the first half and drained a pair of late three-pointers to head into halftime down by six in a 44-38 game. Moedt led the Cascades in points at the half with 13, while Manitoba's Penner had the most points in the half for the Bisons with nine.
The tone of the game at the start of the second half was a physical one, as the Bisons planted their feet to draw a few charging fouls. Manitoba rode this early momentum to take their first lead of the game late in the third quarter, but a last-second shot by Parchmen gave the lead back to the Cascades to start the fourth. A pair of untimely turnovers looked to undo the Bisons' hopes of winning, but three straight three-pointers put the Bisons right back into the game before the Cascades held on to win.
Next week, the Manitoba Bisons travel to Brandon to face the Bobcats on Friday, January 17 at 8 p.m. The Fraser Valley Cascades travel to play the Thompson River WolfPack on Friday, January 17.
