That reality was reflected in the Griffins' effort, which was relentless all night, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Winnipeg, which dominated the inside and feasted on second-chance points in an 89-85 win over MacEwan on Friday, was outrebounded 52-43 and shot just 33.8 per cent, compared to 47.7 a night earlier.

 
Winnipeg head coach Mike Raimbault, whose team is 10-6 in the standings after the weekend split, said it was more what MacEwan did rather than what they didn't do.

 
"I give them a lot of credit," he said. "They played well on both sides of the ball and were grittier and more connected as a group throughout the course of the game. They made a lot more plays than we did."

 
"I think they controlled the tempo of the game," he added. "They did that on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. They made the plays at the right time and were able to hang on and win the game."

 
Winnipeg was led by Denzel Lynch-Blair, who bucketed a game-high 20 points, adding five rebounds. Narcisse Ambanza added 16, while Sean Tarver chipped in 10. But the most tangible evidence of MacEwan's improved defensive effort was big man Ryan Oirbans, who overwhelmed the Griffins with a 13-point, 13-board double-double on Friday but was held to four points and eight rebounds (only one offensive) on Saturday.

 
James added eight rebounds to his offensive effort. The Griffins also had Thadius Galvez (13 points and seven rebounds), Keith Gerdes (12 points, eight boards, two blocks and two steals) and Ryan Coleman (12 points and nine rebounds) in double digits.

"We go through the same process we do each week," said Raimbault. "We have Regina coming in next week. We get out of here tomorrow, get home, get a little bit of rest and spend the week preparing for what to expect from Regina."