DAVID LARKINS, Wesmen Athletics

A late stretch of cold shooting kept the Winnipeg Wesmen from securing their first win of 2022. 

The Wesmen men's basketball team was held to three points and one field goal over the final 6:38 and the Manitoba Bisons came from behind to earn a 68-66 Canada West conference victory Friday night at the Duckworth Centre.

The win was part of the Duckworth Challenge and gave the Bisons a 2-1 lead in the annual showdown between the crosstown rivals in basketball, soccer, and volleyball. 

Donte Makazu, who was named Wesmen MVP of the game, had 15 points and five rebounds off the bench to lead Winnipeg. Makazu also hit his first career three-pointer as part of a 15-0 fourth-quarter run that wiped out a six-point Wesmen deficit and gave the home side a nine-point lead.

That, however, is when the Wesmen went cold. Winnipeg went more than six minutes without a field goal as the Bisons tore off a 14-0 run of their own to go ahead 68-63. Shawn Maranan hit a three to cut the lead to two with 13 seconds left and James Wagner, on the next possession, missed both free throws. With a chance to tie, Eric Racine managed to get into the key in the offensive end, but his floater rimmed out and the Bisons escaped with their third win in three tries against Winnipeg this season. 

Don Dayrit added 14 points for the Wesmen, who got 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals from Racine, and 10, seven rebounds and two steals from Maranan. 

Mason Kraus led the Bisons with 16 points, Keiran Zziwa had 13 off the bench, Elijah Lostracco also had 13 and Cameron O'Hara 11. 

The teams meet again Saturday at U of M.

—#REPTHEW—