For the first time in almost 30 years, the Winnipeg Wesmen men’s basketball team will compete for a national championship.
The Wesmen secured a spot in the USports Final 8 as well as the Canada West Championship thanks to a thrilling 73-70 win over the Manitoba Bisons at a packed Investor’s Group Athletic Centre Saturday night.
“It was amazing, it was great for the basketball community to pack this building and have so many people here with a vested interest,” explained Wesmen head coach Mike Raimbault.
“The Winnipeg, Manitoba community is extremely special and hopefully it’s something we can continue to build upon.”
The Wesmen led for most of the first half, pulling ahead by as much as 11 with four minutes to go in the second quarter before the Bisons went on an 11-0 run to pull even at the half.
With a large contingent of fans cheering on both sides, the atmosphere was electric in one of the most important basketball games ever played in the city, and it seemed that the Wesmen were more comfortable in that environment in the third as they again built up a lead.
Up 59-51 heading to the fourth, the team was on the verge of one of the biggest wins in program history but Manitoba roared back, taking a 65-63 lead with 5:32 to go.
With the tension ratcheted up, buckets were hard to come by down the stretch.
Winnipeg’s Malachi Alexander, who struggled from the three-point line all season, nailed a huge trey to give Winnipeg the lead with just over four minutes left. The Bisons then tied with from the free throw line before rookie Alberto Gordo wrote his name into Wesmen lore.
The 18-year-old from Spain drilled a three with 3:46 to go to put the Wesmen up 69-66, then hit another bomb from deep as the shot clock expired to make it a six-point game with less than three minutes remaining.
“It’s not really all luck, it’s just all the practice that’s behind every single shot you take in a game. I’m really happy that it went in but not anyone can make that type of shot,” Gordo said. “Someone who puts in the work daily has a higher chance of making it. The best players, they can shoot that shot and they have a good chance of making it.”
But the Bisons would not go quietly into the night. First-team all-star Simon Hildebrandt hit a pair of free throws and Wyatt Tait made a layup in transition to cut the Wesmen lead to two with 1:33 to go.
Each side then missed multiple shots before Wesmen rookie Ryan Luke blocked Tait in the paint with 24 seconds left, forcing the Bisons to foul in hopes of getting one last shot.
After Donald Stewart hit one of two free throws, Manitoba had 5.9 seconds to try and tie the game. A three at the buzzer from Elijah Lostracco would not go, sending the Wesmen and their fans into delirium.
Third-year guard Shawn Maranan, a product of Sisler High School, led Winnipeg with 20 points to go along with 13 assists.
“I just let my game do the talking and I trust the work that I put in behind the scenes,” Maranan explained. “That’s what I did today, that’s what we did today as a collective group.”
Gordo finished with 17 points off the bench while Mike Mikhailov pitched in with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
For the Bisons, they feel this was one they let get away in large part due to their struggles from long range, making just two of 28 attempts from behind the three-point line.
“It’s our worst shooting game ever, by a mile,” explained Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp. “I’m actually really proud of my guys. It’s amazing we were in that game, shooting 2 of 28, but we battled, we forced turnovers, we rebounded the ball, competed our butt off. The ball just didn’t go in tonight.”
Hildebrandt led the team with 20 points while Tait added 15.
There was some controversy early in the fourth when the Gordo hit a layup well after the shot clock buzzer went off, but the building was so loud that the officials didn’t hear it and allowed the bucket to stand.
“Unbelievable. It’s really unfortunate. I think the refs missed three shot-clock violations,” Schepp said. “That was a big bucket in a three-point game. There’s nothing the refs can do. If they don’t hear it, they don’t hear it. It’s a tough break.”
The Wesmen will be off to Victoria to play the top-ranked Vikes in the Canada West Championship game March 4, the first time in program history that they will play for the CW title since moving to the conference in 2000.
They also punch their ticket to the USports Final 8 at St. FX in Halifax starting March 10, their first trip to nationals since 1994.
“It’s extremely special. I’ve been really lucky to coach some great groups but this group of young men right here surprised a lot of people this season so far,” Raimbault said.
“They’ve done everything that we’ve asked them to, starting long ago in the spring or summer when we were training three days a week. I’m so happy for the kids and we’re excited that we get to play for another two weeks.”
The Bisons could still make nationals, depending on how things shake out in other conferences as there is one at-large bid available.
Comments