WINNIPEG — The Bisons men's basketball team pinched a victory against the Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday, November 5 in a nail-biting 96-93 finish. This was Manitoba's first regular season game, and the first time they went up against the Wesmen in conference play in well over a year.

"It was a really hard-fought battle," said Kirby Schepp, Bisons head coach. A hard-fought battle it was. The first quarter ended in an intense 26 to 21 in favour of the Wesmen.

Keiran Zziwa, guard for the Bisons came out the gate swinging with two incredibly flashy layups right at the start of the game, setting the pace.

The quarter brought the Bisons just barely into the lead, 42 points to the Wesmen's 41. The second quarter would continue very similarly to the first, swift and fierce on both sides of the court.

The second half had the Wesmen tighten up on their defence and increase the intensity of their offence. The Bisons were struggling to punch through, and the numbers reflect it, the Bisons field goal percentage dropped to 34 percent compared to the Wesmen's 42 percent.

The Bisons came back in the fourth quarter, coming back from their five-point deficit. The Bisons managed to tie the game up. With 40 seconds left on the clock, the ball was shot, missed, saved, and passed to James Wagner, who knocked it down from the three-point line.

With 28 seconds left on the clock, the Bisons managed to hold their 76-73-point lead to finish the game.

The Bisons face off against the Wesmen again tomorrow night.