Championship potential left unfulfilled
Bisons beat Vikes, lose to Golden Bears in basketball playoffs
J
ust as it looked like it was catching fire, the U of M Bisons men’s basketball team fizzled out in the playoffs. After a historic season, the Bisons looked poised to challenge for a national championship. Instead, the club made it as far as the Canada West playoff semifinals and came home heartbroken.
Saturday
There’s domination, and then there’s what the Bisons did to the University of Victoria Vikes in the Canada West men’s basketball quarter-finals. With an 81-61 drubbing of the Vikes, U of M punched its ticket to the semifinals.
The Bisons got to work early Saturday, up 5-4 in the first quarter, a Rashawn Browne three-pointer kicked off a 17-point run to put U of V in a 22-4 hole. Both sides put up
four points apiece to close the quarter 26-8 Bisons.
The Vikes responded in the second quarter, outscoring the herd 19-12 to enter halftime down 38-27. Coming out of the break U of M started to push back. Cameron O’Hara got a layup to fall seconds into the third quarter, starting an 11-2 run for the herd to take a 20-point lead. The sides traded buckets until U of V gave a push of its own.
A Scott Kellum layup provided a spark that caught fire for the Vikes, and the club went on a 14-1 run over the herd to close the third quarter with momentum, but down 55-47. In the fourth quarter, the U of M put the game away. After Browne and Andre Arruda each drained a three, the Bisons took control in the key, scoring 14 of its 26 fourth-quarter points from the paint. This matched the 14 points the Vikes scored the entire fourth quarter, as U of M cruised to the 81-61 win.
The win sent the Bisons to the semifinals Sunday, when the club had to face the host University of Alberta Golden Bears.
Semifinals
Following Saturday’s dominant win, the herd looked like it was headed to nationals for the next chapter in a storybook season, but alas the dream died in a 91-85 overtime loss to the Golden Bears on Sunday. Coming out of the halftime break at 41-40 for the Bisons, U of A looked to make its move in the third quarter. With under six minutes to go in the quarter, Ivan Ikomey got a threepointer to fall and tied things up at 47-47. Arruda and Browne re-established the Bisons lead at 51-47, but a quick seven-point run by the Golden Bears got the club out front at 54-51.
The teams traded chances the rest
No problem at nationals for Kelsey Wog
Swimmer brings home four gold medals, three national records
All that glitters is gold, especially for Kelsey Wog of the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s swimming team.
The Winnipeg-born swimmer brought home a haul last week during the 2020 U Sports national swimming championships in Victoria, B.C., securing four gold medals while setting multiple national records. First up for Wog was the women’s 100-metre breaststroke event Thursday. After pacing the competition in the prelims earlier in the day with a 1:05.05 finish, Wog picked up her first gold of the championship with a time of 1:06.44. Wog beat out Hillary Metcalfe of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds who finished second at 1:10.59.
Wog secured her spot in the final with a 2:20.22 time in the prelims and brought home the gold with another record-breaking performance in the finals.
Her final time of 2:22.42 was nearly 11 seconds faster than secondplace Metcalfe, and over five seconds faster than the U Sports record set in 2015 — again by Doyle — of 2:27.63.
Wog’s winning ways continued
of the way and U of A held a slight 61-57 edge entering the fourth quarter — where the U of M made its move.
With 1:41 to play, a Brody Clarke free throw gave U of A a 70-68 lead Arruda responded with a layup and with 20 seconds on the clock Keiran Zziwa drained a jumper for a 72-70 Bisons lead. Clarke made a gamesaving jumper with eight seconds on the clock to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The win sent the Bisons to the semifinals Sunday, when the club had to face the host University of Alberta Golden Bears
In the extra frame, the Golden Bears broke all Manitoba hearts.
After Browne gave U of M a 75-72 lead early, Adam Paige sank a three to tie the game and kick off a 10-point Golden Bears run for an 82-75 lead. From there, U of A responded to every point the Bisons could snag and took home the win, ending the U of M’s season.
CBC bringing university sports to the nation
Local talent gets chance to shine on national stage
JASON PCHAJEK, STAFF
Canada’s national broadcaster has stepped up to the plate with a deal that already looks like a home run.
On Feb. 13, CBC announced it has entered a partnership with U Sports to provide livestream broadcasts for five national championship tournaments, bringing top-level Canadian university athletics to Canadians free of charge.
In a release issued by CBC, U Sports chief sports officer Lisette Johnson Stapley expressed her organization’s excitement at the new deal.
“We are extremely pleased to continue the momentum we launched with CBC Sports last fall and truly appreciate their interest in covering university sport and student-athletes’ stories, especially given [CBC’s] com-
mitment to their upcoming Olympic coverage,” Johnson Stapley said.
“We look forward to bringing the action of these championship events to university sports fans via CBC’s digital platforms.” CBC and U Sports previously partnered to broadcast the 55th Vanier Cup in November. The University of Calgary Dinos 27-13 win over the University of Montreal Carabins was broadcast nation-wide.
packed schedule of coverage. The U Sports men’s and women’s basketball championships will be simulcast March 5 to 8, followed by the men’s and women’s hockey championships March 12 to 15.
The CBC-U Sports partnership is
local talent — including students — to provide play-by-play and commentary for its English-language broadcasts.
Speaking on 101.5 UMFM’s The Hockey Show host Trevor Alexander described CBC’s decision to use local talent as “incredible.”
“We are extremely pleased to continue the momentum” — Lisette Johnson Stapley, U Sports chief sports officer
This past weekend saw the U Sports national swimming championship broadcast over CBC’s streaming platforms to kick off a
not only an opportunity to get more eyes on Canadian university sport, but will provide important opportunities for young broadcasters from coast to coast.
CBC announced it will tap
“You’re going to have the best teams, the best athletes, the best games, called by people who know the sports best,” he said.
Alexander travelled to London, Ont., to call the 2018 U Sports women’s national hockey championship for UMFM — where he saw students take part in radio broadcasts locally
— and understands how important CBC’s decision is to the future of broadcasting in Canada. “You’re going to get the locals now who are going to get the opportunity to dive in and become CBC employees for at least three days,” Alexander said. Not only that, but Alexander added CBC could use this as a platform to identify talent and “you might be talking about hiring that [person] to go and do more events for you.
“It’s a good springboard on a number of different levels for not only the sport but the people who may be behind the microphones or behind the sport […] who may get a chance to really show off how
She placed third in women’s 200metre individual medley prelims with a time of 2:13.21 — 0.69 seconds off the lead — but took home a gold medal with a time of 2:10.87 in the finals.
This time was — once again — a U Sports record, as Wog finished nearly two seconds faster than Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson’s 2016 time of 2:12.85.
Wog’s final individual event saw the swimmer stumble outside the comfort zone of her breaststroke specialty
into the final day of the competition, where she snagged another pair of golds.
With four more gold medals and three national records, Wog adds to an already stacked trophy case for the 201920 swimming season.
In the process Wog broke the U Sports record time of 1:07.76 set by Fiona Doyle back in 2015. Friday brought more metal to the fourth-year swimmer’s mantle courtesy of the women’s 200-metre breaststroke.
First up for Saturday was the women’s 50-metre breaststroke, where Wog posted the best time in the prelims with a 30.94 second finish, then took home the gold with a time of 31.21 in the final.
Wog’s final individual event saw the swimmer stumble outside the comfort zone of her breaststroke specialty.
The veteran swimmer picked up four golds and four meet records during the Odlum Brown College Cup in November and picked up four more golds during the 2019 Canada West swimming championships a few weeks later.
Wog will now turn her sights toward the 2020 Canadian Swimming Trials March 31 to April 5 as she continues on the path toward a potential Olympic appearance.
JASON PCHAJEK, STAFF
JASON PCHAJEK, STAFF
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