By Brett Hopper

WINNIPEG – Fresh off their first home win of the season, a big 89-85 victory over the Huskies, the Bisons (3-11) went right back to work the following night, Saturday, January 12 at the Investors Group Athletic Centre when the Alberta Golden Bears (9-5) came to town.

With a record of 9-4 prior to tip-off, the Bears were going to be a tough challenge for the Herd, who have been playing extremely well as of late. This particular game may have been the exclamation point on the season thus far. It was an 88-81 win for the Bisons in a true test of there skill.

“We have confidence now,” said head coach, Rick Suffield. “All we can do is carry it forward. We just beat two of the better teams in the country this weekend.”

In a tight first quarter, both teams found themselves going back and forth for the better part of the frame. Later on, the Golden Bears began to make their presence felt as they began to pull away. Going in to the second, the score was 21-17 for the Golden Bears.

Midway through the first half with the score 32-27, the Bisons were playing catch-up in all facets of the game, but they never gave up, and only moments later were down by a mere two points. The speed of the game was intense as the Herd tried desperately to regain ground on the Bears. At recess, the Bisons were trailing 43-42.

The Bisons’ Brian Crowe led all players with 13 points in the half, while the Bears’ CG Morrison had 11 points.

The first three minutes of the second half went back and fourth, with each team trading the lead until two quick fouls by Bison captain Darcy Coss slowed the game’s momentum, and Alberta took a four-point lead. After that, the Bears ran into foul trouble as well. The Bisons were able to go up by four from that point, after some great free throw shooting and timely steals.

Going in to the fourth, Manitoba held a three-point, 63-60 lead over the Golden Bears. Once again, Coss made his presence felt, only this time on the offensive side of the ball as he hit two-straight three-pointers to give the Herd a 71-62 lead. It was an onslaught of three-balls for Manitoba. Not long after, Clarence Smith hit two from beyond the arc to keep the Herd ahead. With three minutes left, Manitoba had a six-point lead. Another win was close. Ending the game, the Bisons finished strong, and all they had to do was run out the clock for the win.

Isaac Ansah and Brian Crowe were the top Bisons respectively with 20 and 21 points. Neb Aleksic was the Golden Bears top player with 17 points.

After the game, Suffield spoke about how his team has to play in the coming weeks. “We have to be unselfish with the ball, and keep this momentum going,” said Suffield. “That being said, this was a great weekend. We can all learn something from it.”

Next up for the Bisons is a road trip way out west to Thompson Rivers and Fraser Valley on January 18 and 19 respectively. Both games with start at 10 pm local time.

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