WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Wesmen (2-5) made an impressive run in the fourth quarter but couldn't complete the comeback, falling to the Manitoba Bisons (4-1) 96-91 in overtime at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
The victory also gives Manitoba a 2-1 lead in the annual Duckworth Challenge, with men's and women's volleyball to conclude the best-of-five challenge tomorrow night.
Keiran Zziwa had a career-high 30 points to lead Manitoba, while Narcisse Ambanza had 26 for the Wesmen.
Zziwa, a fourth-year product from Glenlawn came into the game averaging 15.5 points per game, including a 20-point performance in a win last Friday against Lethbridge. He came on strong at the end of last year and has carried that momentum into the current campaign.
"Just coming into the season knowing it's my fourth year and that I'm one of the vets now on the team, I talked to coach about it and I know within myself that I'm supposed to be one of the leaders on this team," Zziwa said postgame regarding his strong performance to start 2019-20.
"That's where I try to assert my dominance is just by being aggressive. I've always thought I could be a player of this calibre, it's just that this role now feels more fitting for me in my fourth year and my teammates believe in me and so does my coach."
Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp definitely has a lot of faith in the guard, noting his quickness as being key to his game.
"I thought he got into the lane and made plays, and obviously his speed is often a problem for teams. I think teams are rightly so focused on Rashawn [Browne] a lot and sometimes Z has the second-best defender on him and usually he can break him down off the dribble."
The numbers all across the board were even in the first period as Manitoba led 18-17. Browne led the way with five points for the Bisons while Don Dayrit also had five.
Zziwa took the game over in the second period, scoring 14 points as the Bisons entered halftime up 42-38. He was two-for-three from beyond the arc, while also slicing and dicing in the paint on seven-of-nine shooting from the field. The veteran guard also added two assists.
Winnipeg countered with Ambanza, who was the sharp-shooter for his team in the first half with 11 points, while 6'9" Spas Nikolov got it going inside with nine points in the quarter.
The pace slowed down for the vast majority of the third period, as both teams tightened defensively. Billy Yaworsky had a big block for the Wesmen while Andre Arruda had two steals for Manitoba as they led 56-54 in the final minute of play. The Bisons forward was lights out on defence all night long, as was big man Joel Adu-Quaye, who had one of the best games of his career with five points and nine rebounds while playing hard inside the paint.
"[Arruda's] numbers won't wow you but he contributes to winning in so many ways," Schepp said.
"Joel comes off the bench and was a +12 and got some deflections and was a big presence. I was really happy with the way he played."
The third finished with Manitoba going on a 9-0 run with a key three-pointer from Riki Zimbakov and and a big dunk from James Wagner, who had nine points and five rebounds entering the fourth.
The Wesmen trailed by as much as ten in the final ten, but clawed their way back on the strength of ten points from Ambanza.
Manitoba had multiple chances to take a stronghold on the game in the final minute, but missed a handful of critical free throws. The Wesmen then sent the game to overtime tied at 82 with a Nikolov buzzer-beater from inside.
Both teams were in the bonus entering overtime, however it was the Bisons who took advantage, led by Browne. He did an excellent job drawing contact and essentially won the game for Manitoba at the line with ten points.
The two teams will be back at it on Saturday at the U of W.
