QUEBEC CITY — A shorthanded Winnipeg Wesmen side had its season ended Saturday in another close defeat. 

Shawn Maranan scored a game-high 27 points on an injured ankle and the Wesmen men's basketball team, without one of its key starters, fell 88-80 to the Quebec-Montreal Citadins in a consolation semifinal at the Final 8.

It was the second straight season the Wesmen lost to UQAM in the same game, ending another memorable year where they came out of the Canada West conference as one of two automatic berths. 

Maranan injured his ankle driving to the hoop in the second quarter and immediately clutched his leg before hobbling off the floor without being able to put any weight on his right leg. He left the court area, got some treatment and returned, but favoured the ankled the rest of the night.

Maranan scored 18 first-half points for the Wesmen, who were playing without third-year forward Donald Stewart who missed the game after suffering a concussion in the tournament opener on Friday. 

Still, the Wesmen were in the mix throughout, getting to 81-78 with 2:10 remaining but Quincy Louis-Jeune made a three less than a minute later to push it back to six and the Wesmen weren't able to get closer. 

Winnipeg opened a 9-4 lead and were tied at 18 at the end of a quarter and they grabbed a 29-25 lead on a Maranan three with 6:23 to go in the half. UQAM, which lost to Ottawa in Friday's quarter-final, outscored the Wesmen 25-13 to close the quarter and took a 48-42 lead into half. 

The Citadins pushed the lead to as many as 12 in the third quarter but a 15-2 Wesmen run — with Maranan scoring nine — got the UQAM lead down to 65-64. The Citadins, as they seemed to have throughout the second half, had an answer, with Yiacovish Hilaire finishing the quarter with an and-1 that pushed the lead back to four. 

Mikhail Mikhailov scored 14 fourth-quarter points and finished with 20 and 15 rebounds for the Wesmen, who also got 15 and a career-high 11 rebounds from Malachi Alexander.

Kevin Civil had 23 to lead UQAM, which will meet Victoria in the fifth-place game on Sunday. Louis-Jenue scored 18 off the bench and Cheick Dosso scored 14.