Freshman Ashton Uwamaliya put the exclamation mark on a home-opening sweep for the Winnipeg Wesmen.
 
Uwamaliya spiked a highlight reel dunk in the final seconds of a Wesmen blowout as the UWinnipeg men's basketball team handled the MacEwan Griffins 88-56 Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre.
 
Uwamaliya, who had logged four minutes all season, scored his first career points in the fourth quarter, but it was the dunk that got his teammates up off the bench and cheering, the perfect punctuation mark on the Wesmen's fifth straight win to start the Canada West season. 

?? @ATrey5ive with the rack attack last night. #WePlayForWinnipeg pic.twitter.com/INTWvXBmjO

— Winnipeg Wesmen (@Wesmenathletics) November 24, 2024

 
Kato Jaro led a balanced Wesmen attack with 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Malachi Alexander added 17, Elijah Mensah 14, and Alberto Gordo 13 with eight rebounds.
 
The Wesmen shot 51.5 per cent from the field and 38.5 per cent from three, both season-highs. 
 
The Griffins, who got 20 points from Job Janda, never particularly threatened after the first quarter. They led 11-7 on a Diego Presingular three 4:30 into the game, but then surrendered nine straight and never led again. 
 
It was 20-15 after the first quarter and 43-25 at the half, a 19-5 Wesmen run the key stretch that gave the home team breathing room.
 
A night after going 4-for-9 from three, the Griffins (0-6) made just three of 13, a season-low.  
 
It was the third time this season the Wesmen held a team to under 60 points, lowering their opponents' points per game to 60.0, which leads the nation.