WINNIPEG – A 49-point first half did the damage for the No. 9 Bisons on Saturday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre, as they topped the Brandon Bobcats 78-58.
Fifth-year guard Rashawn Browne, playing in his final home game as a senior, paced the offence, scoring 19 of his 22 points in the first half while forward Joel Adu-Quaye added a career-high 12 points. The Bobcats were led by Anthony Tsegakele's 12.
"I'm just really happy for [Browne] as a young man," Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp said postgame.
"In his time here, he's really made an impact on our program, not only on the stats and day-to-day box score but just in the way we do things and our team culture, and me personally. I can't thank him enough for that."
The win improves Manitoba's record to 16-4 — the best in program history. It also guarantees the Bisons a first round bye where they will await the results of next weekend's play-in games. Brandon falls to 6-14 and will go on the road for a play in series as the 12 seed.
"I think it's a credit to the guys and how they bought into the things we wanted to do on both ends of the floor right from the start," Schepp added on the new program record for wins.
"It's very much a veteran team and a very intelligent team filled with guys who right from the start were kind of committing to what we wanted to do. It's a good sign. As any season, there's a couple of losses in there that you wish you had back, but hey, we don't look at 16-4, we look at what's next."
Manitoba opened the first six minutes of play on a 13-4 run, getting five of their first seven points from Browne and ten overall.
Brandon clawed back into the contest with back-to-back threes from guard Dominque Dennis, however Manitoba responded with two treys of their own from forward Joel Adu-Quaye as they led 24-14 entering the second.
The hosts outscored Brandon 25-6 in the second period, controlling play on the glass while distributing the ball well offensively.
Manitoba out-rebounded the undersized Bobcats 32-13 through two, led by Cameron O'Hara's seven and Isaac Miller-Jose's five. Browne continued his strong shooting performance and also got to the line on multiple occasions, leading the team with 19 points at the break on five-of-nine shooting from the field.
Brandon's offence primarily ran through rookie of the year candidate Tsegakele. With Manitoba's zone defence causing troubles, the visitors went to guard Hans Befus, who had four points in the quarter.
A 10-0 run midway through the third period cut Manitoba's lead down to 20 entering the fourth. Solid defence was critical for the Bobcats, as they forced three steals. Dennis added two more treys, while Tsegakele had an impressive dunk and 12 points entering the final period.
Brandon cut Manitoba's lead to as little as 14 early in the fourth, however the Bisons settled down. Active defender Termaine Daniels showed his offensive ability with five points in a row, including a trey as the hosts came out with the point win.
