Wesmen Athletics
Duckworth Challenge Tied
The 21st Annual Duckworth Challenge Is All Tied At 1-1 After A Split In The Basketball Portion Thursday Night At The University of Manitoba..
21st Annual Duckworth Challenge
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Women's Basketball at Manitoba
WESMEN 56 Manitoba 42 Game Statistics
The women's basketball team opened up the basketball portion of the 21st Annual Duckworth Challenge with a convincing 56-42 victory over the Manitoba Bisons Thursday night at the University of Manitoba.
Second year guard Yael Kaplan led the Wesmen with 17 points and 11 rebounds. First year post Alex Warburton had 13 and Alyssa Grant finished with 10 points.
Mubo Ilelaboye led Manitoba with nine points. Allison Balasko led the team in rebounds with 11.
The first two quarters of the game were fast and furious as both teams brought their A-game to heat up their already heated rivalry. Both the Wesmen and the Bisons forced multiple turnovers throughout the first two quarters, making it a back-and-forth battle that was tight right to the end of the opening half of play. Winnipeg went into the halftime break leading 26-24.
In the third quarter it was close to a full two minutes before any team was able to hit the scoreboard as the two teams continued their aggressive play and taking turns forcing turnover after turnover. Winnipeg's stifling defensive play kept Manitoba off the board close to the five minute mark of the quarter. After a Manitoba timeout, the Bisons scored a basket soon after but it did not take the Winnipeg defense long to shut down any offense that the Bisons tried to muster up.. Manitoba was able to get a small amount of offense going but Winnipeg held their ground and went into the final quarter with a double digit lead at 42-32.
The Bisons grabbed a quick three points to kick off the fourth quarter, but as was the story of the game, Winnipeg quickly tightened their defensive efforts just when Manitoba looked to be gaining momentum. With the Wesmen leading 52-38 with less than three minutes to go. A three-pointer by Alex Warburton in the closing moments of the quarter seemed to suck all of the life out of Manitoba.
"It was a great team win, I am really happy with the effort and the way the team competed this evening", said Wesmen head coach Tanya McKay.
The victory even's Winnipeg's record at 4-4. Manitoba with the loss falls to 3-5.
The Duckworth Challenge Players of the game were Mackenzie Prasek (Winnipeg) and Maria Pawlyshyn (Manitoba).
The Wesmen will now enjoy the holiday break and next see action on January 6 when they travel to Kamloops to take on Thompson Rivers.
Men's Basketball at Manitoba
WESMEN 80 Manitoba 99 Game Statistics
The 21st Annual Duckworth Challenge is tied. The Manitoba Bisons defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 99-80 in a wild offensive display at the University of Manitoba Thursday evening.
In the earlier contest the women's team defeated Manitoba 56-42. The Duckworth Challenge title will be decided on Feb 1, 2012 with the volleyball portion taking place at the Duckworth Centre.
Kurtis Sansregret led Manitoba with 21 points. Kevin Oliver added a double-double 19 points, 12 rebounds. Keith Omoerah finished with 16 points.
Winnipeg was led by Dominique Brown's 21 points. Travis Krahn added 15 points, including four-three pointers. Brayden Duff had a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds. James Horaska had 14.
The first quarter of the game was about as fast-paced as possible, with both teams putting up points at a remarkable rate. Manitoba led after the opening ten minutes by a score of 32-24. The teams could not keep the same offensive pace in the second quarter. Winnipeg played a better defensive quarter and was able to outscore Manitoba 19-16 to head into the halftime break trailing 48-43.
The Bisons looked to be getting back to their first quarter performance in the third, outscoring the Wesmen 24-16 in the quarter to open up a 72-59 lead after thirty minutes of play. The Wesmen put up 21 points in the final quarter, but the Bisons managed to score 27 of their own in the final frame to make the make the final score 99-80.
Brayden Duff was named the Wesmen Duckworth Challenge of the Game, Kurtis Sansregret was named the Bisons Player of the Game.
The victory pushes Manitoba's record to 4-4. Winnipeg falls to 2-6.
Winnipeg will next see action at the 45th Annual Wesmen Classic December 28-30 at the Duckworth Centre.
