Box Score Story by Sheri Lamb
In a battle for playoff positioning the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns defeated the University of Winnipeg Winnipeg Wesmen 78-52 Friday evening inside the David F. Anderson gymnasium at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.
The Pronghorns improve to 10-7, while the Wesmen fall to 9-8 in the tight Canada West Conference standings.
The Pronghorns raced out to a quick 22-12 advantage after the opening quarter. Fifth-year forward Brandon Brine led the visitors with 12 points in the quarter, while second-year forward Zac Overwater had three points, three boards. Pryce, led the Wesmen with four points in the opening 10 minutes., while third-year forward Ryan Oirbans had two points, three boards.
"We just came out slow," said Pryce, 24. "We were surprised by how fast they were, but we already knew that already. We always come out slow for the first and third quarters, same as every game, we've got to do better."
It was a different story in the second quarter as the Wesmen fought back. Winnipeg closed to within eight points, but a late surge from the Pronghorns had the visitors up 40-27 at the half. The Wesmen were able to contain Brine better in the second quarter, limiting him to just two points. With Brine having trouble getting open, Michael Pierzchala, a second-year forward, added three points to bring his first half total to eight and third-year forward Christopher Maughan put up six first-half points for the Pronghorns.
After being help pointless in the first quarter, Wesmen second-year guard
Marcello Kambola contributed seven points, three boards to lead his team in their comeback effort.
Jamar Farley finished the first half with six points, three boards, and Oirbans had a six-three contribution.
The Pronghorns extended their 13-point lead at the half to 17 points, taking a 61-43 lead into the final quarter where they just maintained consistency and refused to let the Wesmen back into the game.
William Sesay led the Wesmen with 13 points, five boards, while Kambola finished with 11 points, six rebounds off the bench.
"We need guys off the bench to produce and he produced today," said Pryce. "It's great to see."
Pryce finished the night with six points and five boards and assists apiece in 31 minutes.
"We always do better in the second game so…" said Pryce, issuing a warning to the Pronghorns to expect a different Wesmen team in Game 2 of the doubleheader. "We've got to really win [Saturday's rematch] to put it back into a tie at least."
The Wesmen and Pronghorns will do battle in the series finale Saturday night at 8:00 p.m.
