Diego Maffia whacks Brandon Bobcats in men’s hoops quarters

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This article was published 23/02/2024 (572 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — The Brandon University Bobcats were full of disappointment and pride as they walked off the court for the last time.

You could see the hurt in their teary eyes — but only because none of their heads were hanging after a 98-85 loss to the country’s No. 1-ranked Victoria Vikes in their Canada West men’s basketball quarterfinal at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Thursday.

“They’re tough kids. They came here to get an education and play basketball and they hung in there and didn’t back down,” said Bobcats head coach Gil Cheung. “We attacked them, made it a track meet. They outplayed us. They’re a better team today. What do you hang your head about? They beat us.”

It was a tough night for Dominique Dennis, who came off the bench to hit a massive shot a day earlier and started in place of an injured Jack McDonald.

The fourth-year guard went 1-for-10 from the field and missed what would have been massive buckets for a training BU side.

“Everyone’s disappointed in how it went. We all wanted to play Sunday, we knew we could make it to (the final on) Sunday,” Dennis said.

“A couple of missed shots, a couple of loose balls changes the game. In the locker room, heads were high. We went out and competed and honestly, that’s all you can really ask for.”

The Vikes scored well early, with player of the year Diego Maffia drilling a deep three to lead 12-5.

Then Brandon turned it on with a huge 10-0 run. It made five triples en route to a 23-15 advantage.

Victoria settled down and answered as Izzy Helman and Sergio Pereira hit timely shots off the bench to cut the BU lead to 23-20 at the quarter break.

A pro-Brandon crowd was buzzing and skeptical eyebrows were raised, at least for a while.

“Before the game, we knew we could do this. When you see it in real time, it’s like ‘We’re really doing it.’ At the end of the day, it’s like, ‘Keep it going. We gotta do it for four quarters,” said veteran guard Eli Ampofo.

Ampofo kept the three-point barrage rolling to start the second up 26-20 but the Vikes took over from there.

It was all Maffia and Elias Ralph scoring from beyond the arc and at the rim. BU kept pace, hitting nine of 18 treys in the half including three from Khari Ojeda-Harvey.

But in the last 40 seconds of the half, Ralph drilled two contested deep balls, one at the buzzer to put Victoria up 48-41.

The Bobcats had two defences. When Maffia was on the bench, they played a 2-3 zone and limited easy looks in the paint.

When he was on, they fought to handle the high ball screen coach of the year Craig Beaucamp has torched teams with all season long. The play frees Maffia up with a mismatch or the bit of separation he needs to take games over.

On the other end, Brandon drove and dished on just about every possession and usually took the outside shot with enough success to keep pace.

BU held Maffia to 3-for-11 from three in the half but it didn’t necessarily feel like it.

“It sounds good in theory but when you’re out there playing, some of those shots it doesn’t matter how well you do, how many of them you contest. He’s going to keep going,” Ojeda-Harvey said.

“We knew coming into the game how tough we would have to defend Maffia and he just hit timely shots, him and Ralph.”

The third quarter started with big scoring bursts that turned into a back-and-forth firework show.

Brandon cut the lead to two and trailed by 10 before a total two-way defensive lapse.

But like clockwork, anytime BU got too close for Maffia’s comfort, he pulled up and delivered a dagger.

Then it was super sub Renoldo Robinson igniting the big 7-0 run to lead 69-56 with 13 minutes to go, a cushion comfortable enough for Beaucamp to stretch his lineup and stay fresh for the fourth.

Ampofo hit another trey late in the frame to offset three Izzy Helman free throws after a Bhatti foul. Victoria stayed ahead 72-64 entering the final frame.

Bhatti took his third foul early in the fourth, then took his fourth when an official missed a kickball in transition and called the foul on Bhatti for a play when Robinson initiated the contact.

Brandon pushed back one more time, cutting the deficit to 78-74 with just under six minutes remaining.

Then, again, Maffia tossed in a back-breaking trey, breaking his own record for made threes in a Canada West playoff game.

“At the end of the game, I think that fuels me. I think that’s my competitive nature. Moments like that is just when I thrive and I love being in them. I don’t feel any pressure, I just want to go out there and play basketball, it’s fun,” Maffia said.

Victoria allowed no one but Ojeda-Harvey — who led BU with 29 points — to hit a shot in the last six minutes, stretching the lead to double digits and never looking back.

For the third straight season, the Bobcats playoff run ended in the second round of the playoffs.

Twice in a row, an injury to a BU starter has plagued the team’s shot at an upset victory. Jahmaal Gardner hobbled through a back injury as a decoy, scoring zero points in 18 minutes of last year’s triple-overtime loss to Winnipeg.

On Wednesday, Jack McDonald picked up a knee injury and pushed through it in a 62-55 win over Saskatchewan but Cheung said he “couldn’t move” in warmups on Thursday and the Australian remained on the bench.

Ampofo posted 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting while Ralph dropped 22 for Victoria.

“We left it out there,” Cheung said. “Ten years from now we’ll get together, five years from now, and be proud of our effort. We gave the number one team a run for about three-and-a-half quarters. They made some plays but we’re not going to hang our heads. We did everything we could and we stayed together.

“It’s real hard, guys … I can’t explain how hard it is not to break off and go separate directions when stuff starts hitting the fan … They’re a great group of young men.”

CALGARY 76 ALBERTA 70

The Dinos started hot, cooled off and stormed back late to beat the Golden Bears and earn a trip to the final four. First-team all-star Nate Petrone delivered 31 points with a handful of massive jump shots when Calgary needed him.

WINNIPEG 96 FRASER VALLEY 69

Donald Stewart beat the tired Cascades side down after they outlasted the Regina Cougars on Wednesday.

The veteran forward scored a game-high 25 points including nine free throws for his hometown Wesmen.

Winnipeg plays Calgary in the final four on Saturday at 8 p.m.

The late game between the host Manitoba Bisons and No. 12 University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves was still in progress at press time.

BU VOLLEYBALL: The Bobcats opened their Canada West men’s volleyball quarterfinal series against the Trinity Western Spartans on Thursday night in Langley, B.C. The match ended after deadline. Match 2 is tonight at 9 p.m. CT.

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