Box Score After their first four games of the season were decided by single digits, the Bison men's basketball team claimed a hard-fought 90-68 win over the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Friday, November 20 night at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
 
With the win, Manitoba is now 3-2, while Alberta falls to a 2-3 record.
 
Bison Keith Omoerah led both teams with 29 points, while the Golden Bears' Brody Clarke had 20.
 
But while the Bisons won by just over 20 points, Manitoba head coach Kirby Schepp said the game was still a tight contest.
 
"We just kind of got it rolling at the right time, made some shots at the right time and kind of put a run together," he said. "I think the game was probably a lot closer than the score indicated.
 
"Alberta's a really good team. We basically had one spurt in the third and fourth quarter that was really the difference in the game. I think we were maybe a little bit more aggressive, and I think the tempo of the game was better, and it just created some easy opportunities for us."
 
But it didn't look that easy in the beginning.  
 
The Bisons and Golden Bears battled from the tipoff. Manitoba's Keenan Benarroch and Justus Alleyn combined for five points in just over the first minute of play, but Alberta's Colby Jackson answered with a three-pointer seconds later. The Bisons maintained a slight lead until Sheldon Pittman made a three-point jump shot in the final minutes of the quarter to put the Golden Bears ahead 15-13. The Bisons fought back but couldn't regain the lead. The teams ended the first quarter tied at 21.  
 
Alberta struck first in the second with three free throws (all following separate Manitoba fouls), but the Bisons answered back with a three-point jump shot to retie the game at 24. The Golden Bears broke ahead with a slight lead, but tight back-and-forth game continued until late in the quarter, when Bison guard AJ Basi sunk two unanswered jump shots to give Manitoba a 38-35 lead. Omoerah added a three-pointer in the final seconds of play, and the Bisons closed the half up 41-35.
 
The Golden Bears closed in on this lead early in the third, but the Bisons stayed ahead, thanks in part to eight points from Omoerah alone in the first five minutes of the quarter that put the home side up 53-44. After that, the game stayed fast-paced, but Alberta never recovered. The Bisons extended their lead with increasingly complicated plays, including dunks and a smooth feed from Omoerah to Malik Irwin for a layup, to cheers from the home crowd. At the end of the third, the Bisons led by almost 20 points, up 70-52.
 
The fourth quarter was a lot like the third. Omoerah led the dominant Bison offense from the opening moments of the fourth, scoring on a three-point shot eight seconds into the quarter. Alberta partially closed the scoring gap later in the quarter with three straight jump shots, but Manitoba fought back, regaining their 20-point lead and taking the game 90-68.

The Bisons and Golden Bears will play again on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Investors Group Athletic Centre.