At the completion of the 2016-17 Canada West conference men's basketball regular season, the Manitoba Bisons finished as the fifth seed in the conference with a 12-8 record and now will host the 12th seed Regina Cougars (9-11) in the Canada West Play-In best-of-three playoff series played on the February 16-18 weekend.
The best-of-three playoff series commences on Thursday, February 16 with a special start time of 7:30 p.m. CT for game one. Game two commences on Friday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. CT and, if necessary, game three will be play on Saturday February 18 at 7:30 p.m. CT. All playoff matches will be played at the Investors Group Athletic Centre - IGAC (U of Manitoba Fort Garry campus).
During this season, Manitoba and Regina met twice in conference action as the Herd swept the Cougars on the road (W 93-81 on Jan. 13/17; W 84-75 on Jan. 14/17) and also played in non-conference play as the Bisons won 100-79 on Dec. 28/16 at the U of Winnipeg tournament.
In the 2015-16 season, the Bisons hosted a playoff round for the first time since the 2003-04 season and earned their first playoff series win since 2000-01 when the Herd won the conference quarter-final best-of-three series at Manitoba in two games. Manitoba had not won a men's basketball playoff series at home since the 1999-00 season.
The Herd had an impressive second half of the conference season as they won ten of the last 12 consecutive regular season games (13 out of 15 counting non-conference contests). Manitoba has beaten a U SPORTS ranked team (at Calgary).
This will be the fifth time over the last eight years, since Bison men's basketball head coach Kirby Schepp has taken over the coaching duties at Manitoba, that the Bisons have made the post-season and third consecutive season with a post-season berth.
This is the first playoff meeting between the two teams since the 2003-04 season when Regina won in three games at Manitoba during the Canada West Division Semifinals (best-of-three series).
In the 2016-17 conference men's basketball regular season, the Bisons finished third in scoring offence at 82.8 points per game and tenth in scoring defence at 79.2 points per game. In 3-point percentage, Manitoba was third at 37.3% and third in field goal percentage at 45.1%. In Canada West steals per game, Manitoba was seventh at 7.8; in assists per game, Manitoba in ninth with 14.3 per game and in rebounds per game, the Herd tied for fifth at 39.8 plus in blocks per game, the Bisons were 13th at 2.3.
Individually, co-captain Justus Alleyn was tied for ninth in conference scoring at 17.4 points per game while co-captain A.J. Basi was tied for 28th at 13.6 point per game and Keith Omoerah was T-32nd at 13.2. Omoerah was tenth with 31.3 minutes played per game while Alleyn (30.6) in T-16th and Basi (29.6) in T-23rd. Omoerah was fifth with 8.7 rebounds per game. Basi was tied for sixth with 1.9 steals per game. Ilarion Bonhomme was first in Canada West with 4.8 assists per game. Alleyn (42.5) in tenth spot and Omoerah (40.7) in 15th in 3-point percentage plus James Wagner was third at 56.8% field goal percentage.
Bison men's basketball - 2017 Canada West Play-In series home schedule
Date Game Central Time Place
Thurs, February 16 Game 1: Manitoba vs. Regina 7:30 p.m. IGAC
Fri, February 17 Game 2: Manitoba vs. Regina 7:30 p.m. IGAC
*Sat, February 18 Game 3: Manitoba vs. Regina 7:30 p.m. IGAC
* if necessary
Bison Men's Basketball - Play-In Playoff Ticket Prices: $12 adults; $7 non-U of Manitoba students and seniors while children under 12 (accompanied by at least one adult) are free while also U of Manitoba students are free. Group Playoff packages are also available and more information at Bison Sports website (gobisons.ca). Playoff single game tickets will be available at the door.
