MBB: Bisons outlast Dinos 75-72 in defensive affair
February 18, 2023
WINNIPEG - The No. 2 seeded Manitoba Bisons and No. 8 seeded Calgary Dinos got to work on the hardwood in the quarterfinals Saturday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre. The Bisons played hard on the glass, earning 13 second-chance points compared to two for Calgary while holding the versatile Mason Foreman to just nine points in a 75-72 win.
The victory helped Manitoba advance to the conference semi-finals for the second time in the last three seasons, having previously done so in 2019-20 on the road. It's the first time the program is hosting a CanWest semi-final since the squad joined the conference in 2000.
Isaac Miller-Jose would have a monstrous performance on the biggest stage, dropping a double-double including a career-high 20 points along with ten rebounds and two blocked shots.
He was matched up against Foreman for a significant portion of the game, holding him to three field goals and one trey on 11 total attempts.
Wyatt Tait also defended Foreman and added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Cieran O'Hara had five boards as the Bisons won the battle on the glass by five with eight different players tallying at least one rebound.
"This team is all about group effort, rebounding, points scored, assists, they come from everybody. Rebounding was huge, and it came from everybody," Miller-Jose said. "Elijah [Lostracco] pulled down some big boards over taller guys, he was getting up there."
Dinos guard Noah Wharton would have a fiery performance, hustling to grab a game-high 22 points along with six rebounds while shooting six-of-nine from midrange. Foreman added a team-high 13 rebounds, while nine of Alan Spoonhunter's 15 points came from the perimeter, and the Dinos shot 43 percent overall from the field.
The challenge for the Bisons going in was whether they could stop a Dinos roster deep with crafty shooters, while also containing Foreman from getting to his spots.
The Dinos, on the other hand, had the best team in the conference standing in their way, and it would be integral for them to find the right matchups to defensively contain a Bisons roster chocked full of electric young talent at every position to secure a win.
After a slow start, the Bisons would find their footing and enter halftime up by four after being down by as much as 11 points throughout the first two quarters.
The Bisons would catapult up 55-37 halfway through the third as the young team rallied behind a plethora of offensive firepower from three, and some killer team defence.
Bisons spark plug Tito Obasito would hit back-to-back deep treys in the third that seemed key in generating confidence throughout his entire team, as they continued to get eight unanswered points shortly after.
The Dinos fought through the adversity, handed the keys to their defence and pushed the Bisons to foul - forcing seven possession changes just off player fouls in the third. They also had five steals.
Calgary began to shift the tides, rallying back from a 57-46 deficit, bringing it within two possessions multiple times in the fourth. They relied heavily on Wharton to run the offence, as he dropped seven key points down the stretch to keep the Dinos within a point of the lead.
Down by one with 22 seconds remaining, the Dinos were forced to commit fouls to stay in the game - sending Simon Hildebrandt and Miller-Jose to the line as they sank their free throws to seal the game in the final nail-biting moments.
The Bisons now wait to see whether they play against Regina or their cross-town rival Winnipeg Wesmen in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 pm.
"That's a revenge game," added Miller-Jose of a potential rematch with the Wesmen, who won one of two against the Bisons in the regular season. "They got one on us [at home], and we need to get it back. [The gym] would be absolutely burning with energy, nothing like it."
The victory helped Manitoba advance to the conference semi-finals for the second time in the last three seasons, having previously done so in 2019-20 on the road. It's the first time the program is hosting a CanWest semi-final since the squad joined the conference in 2000.
Isaac Miller-Jose would have a monstrous performance on the biggest stage, dropping a double-double including a career-high 20 points along with ten rebounds and two blocked shots.
He was matched up against Foreman for a significant portion of the game, holding him to three field goals and one trey on 11 total attempts.
Wyatt Tait also defended Foreman and added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Cieran O'Hara had five boards as the Bisons won the battle on the glass by five with eight different players tallying at least one rebound.
"This team is all about group effort, rebounding, points scored, assists, they come from everybody. Rebounding was huge, and it came from everybody," Miller-Jose said. "Elijah [Lostracco] pulled down some big boards over taller guys, he was getting up there."
Dinos guard Noah Wharton would have a fiery performance, hustling to grab a game-high 22 points along with six rebounds while shooting six-of-nine from midrange. Foreman added a team-high 13 rebounds, while nine of Alan Spoonhunter's 15 points came from the perimeter, and the Dinos shot 43 percent overall from the field.
The challenge for the Bisons going in was whether they could stop a Dinos roster deep with crafty shooters, while also containing Foreman from getting to his spots.
The Dinos, on the other hand, had the best team in the conference standing in their way, and it would be integral for them to find the right matchups to defensively contain a Bisons roster chocked full of electric young talent at every position to secure a win.
After a slow start, the Bisons would find their footing and enter halftime up by four after being down by as much as 11 points throughout the first two quarters.
The Bisons would catapult up 55-37 halfway through the third as the young team rallied behind a plethora of offensive firepower from three, and some killer team defence.
Bisons spark plug Tito Obasito would hit back-to-back deep treys in the third that seemed key in generating confidence throughout his entire team, as they continued to get eight unanswered points shortly after.
The Dinos fought through the adversity, handed the keys to their defence and pushed the Bisons to foul - forcing seven possession changes just off player fouls in the third. They also had five steals.
Calgary began to shift the tides, rallying back from a 57-46 deficit, bringing it within two possessions multiple times in the fourth. They relied heavily on Wharton to run the offence, as he dropped seven key points down the stretch to keep the Dinos within a point of the lead.
Down by one with 22 seconds remaining, the Dinos were forced to commit fouls to stay in the game - sending Simon Hildebrandt and Miller-Jose to the line as they sank their free throws to seal the game in the final nail-biting moments.
The Bisons now wait to see whether they play against Regina or their cross-town rival Winnipeg Wesmen in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 pm.
"That's a revenge game," added Miller-Jose of a potential rematch with the Wesmen, who won one of two against the Bisons in the regular season. "They got one on us [at home], and we need to get it back. [The gym] would be absolutely burning with energy, nothing like it."