MBB: Wesmen pull off comeback over Cascades
March 4, 2022
CALGARY - The University of Winnipeg Wesmen men's basketball team erased a 16-point deficit to defeat the Fraser Valley Cascades, 83-79, in the second round of the Canada West Tournament on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary.
After falling behind in the first quarter, the Wesmen relied on fourth-year guard Don Dayrit. The Winnipeg native played 37 minutes and netted a game-high 23 points.
Winnipeg also got double-digit performances from Eric Racine (21 points) and Spas Nikolov (10 points) as they advance to face the Alberta Golden Bears in the conference quarter-final.
"Fraser Valley played great, what we had to do is try to weather the storm with how well they were shooting the ball and executing and making plays. We had to stay together that was probably the biggest thing," said Wesman head coach Mike Raimbault. "It is a fun game to be a part of because there is so much on the line. We've been in the single-game elimination scenario in a previous year so it's not totally new for us, but it certainly was a good game down to the wire."
Fraser Valley started the game red hot in the opening 10 minutes of action, knocking down four of the first seven three-point attempts while shooting 50 percent from the field as they jumped out to a 22-14 lead.
Four different players reached 11 or more points for the Cascades, led by Zubair Seyed who posted 16 points.
The Cascades eventually build up a 16-point lead before the Wesmen began their charge. Winnipeg outscored Fraser Valley in each of the final three quarters, and with help from a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter, they seized control of the game in the final minute.
"It was your prototypical 8-9 game you would see in a March Madness tournament. These were two evenly matched teams," said Cascades bench boss Joe Enevoldso. "We shot the three-ball pretty well - the best we have all year - and in the second half, we settled at times.
"Credit to them, they made some shots in the second half and they grinded us for 40 minutes."
The Golden Bears and Wesmen tip-off at the Jack Simpson Gym at the University of Calgary at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The winner advances to the Canada West Final Four, hosted by the highest remaining seed.
After falling behind in the first quarter, the Wesmen relied on fourth-year guard Don Dayrit. The Winnipeg native played 37 minutes and netted a game-high 23 points.
Winnipeg also got double-digit performances from Eric Racine (21 points) and Spas Nikolov (10 points) as they advance to face the Alberta Golden Bears in the conference quarter-final.
"Fraser Valley played great, what we had to do is try to weather the storm with how well they were shooting the ball and executing and making plays. We had to stay together that was probably the biggest thing," said Wesman head coach Mike Raimbault. "It is a fun game to be a part of because there is so much on the line. We've been in the single-game elimination scenario in a previous year so it's not totally new for us, but it certainly was a good game down to the wire."
Fraser Valley started the game red hot in the opening 10 minutes of action, knocking down four of the first seven three-point attempts while shooting 50 percent from the field as they jumped out to a 22-14 lead.
Four different players reached 11 or more points for the Cascades, led by Zubair Seyed who posted 16 points.
The Cascades eventually build up a 16-point lead before the Wesmen began their charge. Winnipeg outscored Fraser Valley in each of the final three quarters, and with help from a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter, they seized control of the game in the final minute.
"It was your prototypical 8-9 game you would see in a March Madness tournament. These were two evenly matched teams," said Cascades bench boss Joe Enevoldso. "We shot the three-ball pretty well - the best we have all year - and in the second half, we settled at times.
"Credit to them, they made some shots in the second half and they grinded us for 40 minutes."
The Golden Bears and Wesmen tip-off at the Jack Simpson Gym at the University of Calgary at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The winner advances to the Canada West Final Four, hosted by the highest remaining seed.