A night after seeing their offence flowing, the Winnipeg Wesmen turned to their defence to pull out a win.

The Wesmen men's basketball team held the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack without a point for the final 3:10 and came back to secure a 72-66 Canada West conference victory at the Duckworth Centre.

The Wesmen, who led for most of the game, came back from five points down late in the fourth quarter and opened their season 2-0 for the second time in the past three seasons. 

Malachi Alexander had a steal and fastbreak layup with 1:08 to go to give the Wesmen the lead back once and for all. After the Wolfpack used an 8-0 run to take a 66-61 lead with 3:10 left, the Wesmen got the key stops they needed to hand the Wolfpack their second straight loss to start the season. 

Shawn Maranan had 24 points and was 6-for-9 from three-point range to lead the Wesmen, who head to Victoria to face the Vikes Friday and Saturday. Maranan also had four assists and two steals.

Alberto Gordo finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Donald Stewart and Mikhail Mikhailov both had 12 points, with eight and seven rebounds, respectively. 

The Wesmen shot it well from three again Saturday, knocking down 9 of 21 from the perimeter. In two games, they're shooting 40 per cent as a team from three.

Simon Crossfield's 14 points lead the Wolfpack, who also got 13 from Denys Bachurin, 12 from Daniel Bost and 11 from from Thomas Olsen.