A night after watching a potential win slip through their fingers, the Winnipeg Wesmen came up with their biggest win of the season.
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Shawn Maranan had 17 points and 12 assists to lead the No. 8-ranked Wesmen men's basketball team to an 84-78 upset victory over the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds, snapping the visitors' three-game win streak to start the season.
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The win also snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Thunderbirds and improved Winnipeg's record to 3-1 heading into next weekend's road trip to Lethbridge.
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Alberto Gordo also scored 17 points for the Wesmen, who opened a 24-18 lead after the first quarter and extended that lead to 10 with under three minutes to go in the third. The T-Birds, however, closed the half on an 8-2 run that trimmed Winnipeg's lead to 45-41.
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The Wesmen outscored UBC 18-11 in the third quarter and started the fourth with a 63-55 advantage. The Thunderbirds would chip away and pull even at 72 on a James Woods layup with 3:17 remaining, but Maranan and
Malachi Alexander both hit threes on back-to-back possessions to give the Wesmen a bit of breathing room at 78-74.Â
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The teams went nearly two full minutes without a score until a Brian Wallack free throw with 31 seconds to play, but the Wesmen were able to close it out with free throws from there.
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Mikhail Mikhailov had 12 points for the Wesmen, who shot just 37.7 per cent from the field and were 9 of 29 from three.Â
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Wallack led all scorers with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Woods added 21. Micah Jessie finished with 10.Â
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Winnipeg won the rebounding battle 42-41 including 16-11 on the offensive glass. Â
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