Stewart pushes Winnipeg to split with Brandon
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/01/2024 (723 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Brandon University Bobcats had an answer for everything except Donald Stewart’s grit down the stretch.
The fourth-year forward scored 10 of the last 15 Winnipeg Wesmen points during an 88-83 victory at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday. None of them were easy to come by as everyone grew tired in the dying minutes of their second Canada West men’s basketball game of the weekend.
“You just gotta try to push for a couple more minutes,” Stewart said.
Elisha Ampofo of the Brandon University Bobcats shoots over Winnipeg Wesmen forward Elijah Mensah during their Canada West men's basketball game at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday. (Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
“I’m really lucky to play for this team and play for my coach (Mike Raimbault), I want to give them everything I have every single night and I was happy I was able to do that tonight and it feels great to be able to get this one for the fellas.”
On the other end, Bobcats guard Elisha Ampofo tipped his cap to Raimbault, who ran a two-three zone defence which stifled Brandon’s torrid offence down just enough.
“It slowed it down a little bit. We’re a team that loves to dribble penetrate and find kick-outs because we’ve got a lot of elite shooters on our team. With that zone, it’s a lot harder to get that dribble penetration,” Ampofo said.
“They brought in some guys with more length they don’t usually play as much to make those adjustments, make it a little bit harder for us.”
Brandon (8-4) had its shooting touch early, pulling ahead 19-10 before Winnipeg (8-4) started pounding the ball inside and getting to the free-throw line.
While BU shot 61.5 per cent in the first 10 minutes and U of W hit just five of 15 shots, the Bobcats led 21-16 heading into the second quarter.
The next five-minute stretch was one long three-point barrage as the teams combined for seven triples. Brandon went up 41-37 but gave up an 8-0 run during the last three minutes of the half and trailed 45-43.
A night earlier, Winnipeg went four-for-30 from beyond the arc, but this time was at a much better five-for-15 with 12 points in 15 terrific minutes off the bench by six-foot-seven forward Elijah Mensah.
“You can’t say enough about Elijah Mensah,” Stewart said. “He was amazing in the first half and throughout the game, made a couple of big free throws late, got a big tip on a rebound. Just every big play we needed him to make, he did that and more. He was fantastic tonight.”
Ampofo agreed.
“I know about his game. It wasn’t really a surprise to me,” he said. “He’s been putting in a lot of work on his shot. I’ve been keeping up with how they’re doing and the players on his team. Shoutout to him. He stepped up big this game and all year.”
The Wesmen went up six on an 8-0 run early in the third, then the rest of the quarter went back and forth with no one scoring more than twice in a row or showing a ton of interest in the idea of a defensive stop.
U of W forward Malachi Alexander closed the quarter with a layup to lead 67-61.
The Wesmen got up eight points before Eli Ampofo and Jack McDonald drilled back-to-back threes, then McDonald made another and Sultan Bhatti made it four treys in five possessions to tie it 77-77.
The teams traded buckets down the stretch — and “teams” in this case means Stewart and BU. The fourth-year forward carried the mail, scoring on offensive rebounds, free throws and any situation he got his mitts on the ball.
The Wesmen finally got up four with 22 seconds left on a pair of Mensah free throws. Ojeda-Harvey replied with an uncompleted three-point play, then after Stewart missed a free throw, the Wesmen forced a held ball to keep possession. Shawn Maranan cashed in two more from the charity stripe to ice it.
Stewart finished with a game-high 19 points, and more importantly, avoided a sweep.
“It felt great. We were not happy with how we played (Friday),” Stewart said. “You can’t play like that against a team as good as Brandon. These guys can beat anybody in the country and if you don’t bring your best effort, what happened last night will happen every time.
“It’s still a battle. This is a great team and we were really happy to get at least one win this weekend.”
Bhatti led Brandon with 18 points while Ampofo scored 17.
The Bobcats head to MacEwan University in Edmonton this weekend, then return for their final home doubleheader of the season on Jan. 19 and 20 against Saskatchewan.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com
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