By Brett Hopper

WINNIPEG – It was a battle of unranked teams on Friday night as the Regina Cougars came to the Investors Group Athletic Centre to square off against the Bisons. Manitoba was coming of a split in Alberta the weekend before, and was also, hoping to slow the Cougars down before the playoffs start in two weeks time.

Unfortunately, the Bisons will be on the outside looking in on this year’s edition of the CIS playoffs. The Cougars on the other side of the ball, clinched a playoff spot two weeks ago when the Herd was unable to grab a win against Brandon.

Although the Bisons were in the game from start to finish, they couldn’t get the win. All that remains is to close out the season tomorrow night in the series rematch.

“No, we’re not going to the playoffs,” said head coach Rick Suffield, “but at the same time we’re not going to fold just because we’re not in any sort of hunt.”

 “We don’t play that way,” said Suffield.

In a tight first quarter, the Bisons were looking good early on offence, staying ahead of the cougars by three points for much of the quarter. It was there ability to maintain their own pace, and make quick transitions that kept them ahead by three going into the second quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, with the score 26-25 for the Bisons, Regina made two key baskets to go up on the Herd by three, taking their first lead of the game. From that point, it was all Regina. The Cougars went on a 14-4 run, making the Bisons look inept at the best of times. Manitoba was able to rebound late in the quarter to regain some ground though, and they trailed 37-46 at the break.

Leading scorers at the half were Bryden Wright for the Cougars with 12 points, and the Bisons’ Darcy Coss and Chris Pereira with eight points each.

Manitoba opened the second half on a positive note, scoring six unanswered points to bring the game within three. With three minutes left in the quarter, after containing Regina’s attack in the paint, Bison forward Grant Rayner tied the game at 55 with a shot from the line. It went back and forth from there with the cougars coming out on top 61-58, heading home.

It was becoming evident at the start of the fourth that although the Bisons had nothing to lose in the game, they were playing like everything was on the line. Pereira made a quick steal early in the quarter, and looked as though an easy lay-in was available, but the Cougars’ Adam Huffman came from behind with a block and hard foul, forcing Pereira out of the game, although thankfully, he returned moments later. The foul on Pereira seemed to slow some of the Herd’s momentum however as the Cougars slowly increased their lead to eight points.

Despite their best efforts, especially late in the second half, the Bisons couldn’t make anything of their early game lead, and they lost 85-77.

Leading all players in the game was Regina’s Bryden Wright who had nine boards and 25 points. Isaac Ansah was getting it done for the Herd as he racked up 21 points.

“obviously, when you’re an athlete you play for the love of the game,” said Suffield after the loss. “Even though we’re not playing for a championship anymore, we’re going to come out hard tomorrow”

“The bottom line is the ball has to go in the hole if we want to win,” said Suffield.

These two teams will reset, and replay each other tomorrow night, Saturday February 9, on “Girls Night Out”, an evening dedicated to women in sport. The game starts at 8:15pm at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.