WINNIPEG – With both teams missing key members of their roster, it was the No. 10 nationally ranked Manitoba Bisons who came out on top, out-lasting the Lethbridge Pronghorns 83-69 on Friday night at IGAC.
 
The win improves Manitoba's record to 5-2. It's their third straight win, while Lethbridge falls to 0-7. 
 
Kymani Pollard led all scorers with 18 for the Pronghorns, doing the vast majority of his damage in the fourth, as the visitors fought back from 18 points down to narrow Manitoba's lead to 72-62 at one point. 
 
Pollard made three triples over three minutes, while Karter Fry – seeing increased minutes due to Jack-Henry Fox-Grey being unavailable –  also got in on the action with a three. 
 
Fry finished with six points and seven rebounds, effectively containing Bisons standout Simon Hildebrandt at times, but the Bisons' big also got his shots up, and was important on the glass. He finished with a team-leading nine rebounds, along with 14 points, with ten of those points coming in the fourth to close out the game. 
 
The turning point in this game came in the third. With Hildebrandt on the bench for most of the quarter with three fouls, the Bisons flexed their depth. 
 
Mason Kraus and Daren Watts combined for nine points, while first-year Spain native David Acosta Moline had five of his seven boards in the quarter, as Manitoba broke open a five-point lead. They held the Pronghorns scoreless for almost seven minutes, increasing their lead to 16. 
 
Acosta Moline added a layup and two blocks in the run, finishing the game with a career-high seven points, seven rebounds and three blocks. His minutes were increased due to Cieran O'Hara's absence as a result of illness, as he posted a personal best of 19, 14 minutes more than he'd previously played. 
 
Overall, four different Bisons had at least ten points, and eight players scored a basket. 
 
"I am a rookie here, I'm from Spain. But now my teammates can see that they can trust me more," Acosta Moline said. 
 
"It's important for me. I'm far away from home. But now I have a family here. It means a lot that my team can roll with me, and are happy for me."