Bisons suffer setback at hand of Bobcats
Bisons lack composure in pair of losses to division rivals
STEVE BOHRN STAFF
PHOTO BY DAVID IAN LIPNOWSKI
The University of Manitoba Bisons men’s basketball team was matched up against Canada West Great Plains-division rivals the Brandon University Bobcats for the first of a two-game weekend set on Nov. 10. Both teams came into the contest 1-1, but you couldn’t tell from the final score. Brandon managed to outplay the Bisons in every way imaginable, beating them soundly 83-64.
Bisons head coach Rick Suffield said after the game that he was disappointed with the energy with which his team played the game.
“We just were not playing to the level that we should be playing at. Brandon is a good team and we need to play better against teams like them.”
The Bobcats took it to the Bisons early and never let up. Propelled by a gritty defence and a high-powered offence, the visitors took a 45-31 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
After halftime the Bisons seemed a different team. They scored quickly and efficiently to cut the lead to as little as eight. But some key mistakes by the Bison players and some timely shooting from the Bobcat guards kept the Bisons from ever really getting back into the contest.
“We started the second half well, but then we made some stupid plays, we lost our composure, and because of that we lost the momentum we had gained,” commented Suffield after the game.
The new-look Bisons, who have a good number of new faces from the team that finished with a 4-16 record and missed the playoffs, are now 1- 3. There are some returning players, including co-captains Darcy Coss and Brian Crowe, both currently in their fourth year of eligibility.
But the Bisons seemed to lack team cohesion, which will come with practice as the season wears on. Team cohesion was not a problem for the Bobcats on Friday night, however. Brandon spread their scoring around, with three players in double digits and all but one player scoring. The Bisons were lead by Crowe with a game-high 22 points.
In their second tilt of the weekend the Bisons played much better in many respects, but still fell to the Bobcats 93-92. The Bisons seemed determined to solve many of the problems that the team had from the night before, including playing with more drive and heart.
The squad was dealt a major blow when Crowe left the game 81 seconds in with an injury that would put him on the bench for the rest of the game. The Bisons secondary players stepped up their play, however, and the game became a see-saw affair. The game was decided when the Bisons were unable to connect on missing several game-winning shot attempts.
The Bisons were lead by Isaac Ansah who scored 29 points, including five three-pointers, and played all but four minutes on Saturday.
The effort in the second game showed that the rest of the season promises to be an exciting one for the Bisons, and coach Suffield expressesd optimism for how the Bisons will fare the rest of the way: “All of these Great Plains division games are wars. We need to play with intensity and heart in order to get victories against these very talented teams. And with the squad that we have, we can do that,” said Suffield.
The Bisons’ next action comes in Victoria on Nov. 17, when they have a game against a tough Victoria Vikings team that went 15-5 last year on their way to losing in the National Championship in a thrilling decision to Carleton University. This is a part of a two-game B.C. road trip.
The team is back in Manitoba for games on Nov. 24 and 25 for games against Simon Fraser and Trinity Western, respectively.
