WINNIPEG – Manitoba's local senior class of Mason Kraus, Daren Watts, Cieran O'Hara, Jonam Kazadi, Samuel Jensen and Tito Obasoto made history on Friday at IGAC in a 95-64 win over MacEwan.
 
The group of six recorded their 63^rd career regular season win as a collective, breaking the program record for conference wins by a collection of teammates, previously held by national champions Rick Watts and Darryl Rumsey since 1976.
 
The win improved Manitoba's record to 9-6, while GMU fell to 3-12. The Herd remain in the thick of a top two spot in Canada West's Prairie Division, with Alberta at 10-5 in second, and Winnipeg in first at 12-3.
 
The leadership group -- all Manitoba-bred -- were recruited together over a span of three years.
 
That includes the longest tenured member of the roster in O'Hara (2019), along with sharp shooting wing Jensen (2020), imposing and intelligent forward Kazadi (2020), tenacious defender Obasoto (2020), long-time starting point guard Kraus (2021) and do-it-all difference maker Watts (2021).
 
All six Bisons seniors scored in the win, led by Watts, with 22 points. He missed just one shot in the first half, including three triples. Kraus added a double-double with 14 points and ten assists, while Obasoto had three steals.
 
O'Hara added five rebounds and Manitoba won the battle on the boards by 13 overall.
 
"When I was recruited, I had a photo of all of us, excluding Cieran. It just shows that with time and with our progression, step by step through the years, that our vision [of sticking together] has become a reality," said Kraus, who, along with Watts, has amassed over 1,000 career points as a Bison. 
 
"It's nice to see. Hopefully we can make nationals and make a push. It's great to see that this was the plan and it's come through."
 
"Like Mason said, it's great when the vision becomes a reality," added O"Hara, whose 7.8 rebounds per game ranks fifth in Canada West. 
 
"It's great. Winning by 40 points, everyone got to score today too."
 
The Bisons led 28-8 after the first quarter and didn't look back, with a 58 percent shooting efficiency from the field in the opening ten. Overall in the game, they shot 53.9 percent. Obasoto had two of his steals in the first, adding four assists as the Herd distributed the ball well.
 
MacEwan's best quarter came in the second. They out-scored Manitoba 22-20, thanks in part to a 5-0 run from Job Janda, who led his side with 12 points. Judson Weir added a triple at the buzzer, and had two treys in the game overall.
 
But Manitoba put their foot down in the second half, with every player on the roster getting on the score sheet. Taven Vigilance threw down two highlight-reel dunks and had ten points in the game as the Herd out-scored GMU by 12 in the third and played their bench for all of the fourth.
 
Both teams play again tomorrow at 5 pm.