Files for University of Alberta Sports Information

The University of Winnipeg Wesmen will head home with a split against the Alberta Golden Bears. Freshman guard Colby Jackson scored a game high 21 points to lead the University of Alberta Golden Bears basketball team to a 79-67 win over the Winnipeg Wesmen on Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

Winnipeg (1-3) won the series opener 71-60 on Friday night against the Golden Bears (2-2).
Jackson drained a game high five three-pointers in the win, and finished with a career high 21 points.He also picked up six assists and a steal.

Sophomore post Sebastien Denault also had a strong night for the Golden Bears as he collected a double-double with 12 points and a game high 13 rebounds.

As a team, the Bears also hauled down 45 boards in the win, 12 more than the Wesmen, and also outshot the visitors, draining 43% (26-60) from the floor, 41% (11-27) from beyond the arc and 80% (16-20) from the charity stripe, while Winnipeg connected on 37% (20-54), 29% (8-28) and 70% (19-27) from those same areas.

The Wesmen, who traveled last weekend as well, where they lost both games to the Calgary Dinos, were paced by 15 points from sophomore guard Denzel Lynch-Blair, while Jelane Pryce chipped in with 11 points and Nathaniel Johnson added 10 points.

Both Pryce and Johnson fouled out, however, as did Golden Bear rookie Brody Clarke in what ended up being a wild finish.

After shaking off an early 15-10 Winnipeg lead, the Golden Bears cruised to a 24-point lead (64-40) after three quarters, and looked well on their way to a comfortable victory.
Some sloppy play and a resilient and advantageous Wesmen team, however, made the game interesting in the fourth.

As the Bears began to pile up turnovers and fouls in the fourth, Winnipeg worked its way back into the game with some sharp shooting from outside the arc.

Although the Wesmen managed to whittle the lead down to 11 points, the Bears regrouped to close out the 12 point win, finishing off with a 79-67 victory.

Winnipeg will be on home court for the first time in regular season play next Friday night against the Trinity Western University Spartans at 8:00 p.m.