Wesmen advance
Wesmen Win Series, Advance To First Ever Canada West Final Four
The Winnipeg Wesmen Men’s Basketball team advanced to their first ever Canada West Final Four with a convincing 101-76 victory over the Trinity Western University Spartans in game three of their Canada West quarter final series Sunday afternoon at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.Game StatisticsWinnipeg wins the best of three series 2-1 and will play in the Canada West Final Four March 1 – 2 hosted by UBC. Winnipeg will play Victoria on Friday night at 10:45 p.m. (Winnipeg Time) in one semi-final. A Winnipeg victory will assure the team of a spot in the CIS Men’s Basketball Championships the following weekend in Ottawa, Ontario.
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Winnipeg received a total team effort with six players scoring in double digits. Steven Wesley led the charge with 19 points. Travis Krahn and Jordan Clennon each added 16. Benny Iko finished with 15. Guard Andrew Cunningham had 14 points and 13 assists. Nolan Gooding contributed 11. Iko and Krahn led the team in rebounds with seven.Justin Bakuteka led the Spartans with 19 points, including five three-pointers. Tristan Smith had 17 points, six assists and three-three pointers. Tonner Jackson and Mark Perrin each finished with 11.
Winnipeg’s offensive display was propelled by the long ball. The Wesmen connected on 16-of-27 shots (59%) from three point territory on their way to scoring their second most points of the season. Winnipeg scored 103 points against Brandon back on November 15, 2012.
The Wesmen opened the contest on a quick 9-0 run with the game barely three minutes old. Winnipeg drained five three-pointers in the quarter and raced out to a 31-17 lead after the opening quarter. The Wesmen maintained their double-digit lead for a good portion of the second quarter until a late 9-0 run by the Spartans cut the Wesmen lead to 49-43 with 50 seconds left in the opening half. Steven Wesley added a basket for Winnipeg to send them into the halftime break leading 51-43.
Winnipeg took control of the game, going on a 16-5 run in the opening four minutes to extend their lead to 67-47 . Winnipeg went into the final quarter leading 84-63 and held off any Spartans charge in the final quarter to make the final score 101-76.
Notes: Both teams finished the contest with 33 rebounds. Trinity Western had 10-three pointers in the contest.
MEDIA CONTACT
Sheldon Appelle
Sports Information Coordinator
University of Winnipeg
(204)-786-9823 Office
(204)-795-0720 Cell
(204)-783-7866 Fax
s.appelle@uwinnipeg.ca
www.wesmen.ca
