MBB: Wesmen take marathon thriller to advance to CW Final Four
February 19, 2023
WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Wesmen hung on and survived one of the longest games in Canada West history Saturday.
Donald Stewart hit a game-winning three with 0.1 seconds left in triple overtime to push the Wesmen men's basketball team into the Canada West final four with an 87-84 quarter-final victory over the Brandon Bobcats Saturday at the Duckworth Centre.
The result sends the Wesmen to the conference semifinal next weekend, Winnipeg's first trip to the final four since winning bronze in 2013.
Stewart's three-pointer was just the last in a series of remarkable makes that extended the longest game ever played in the Duckworth Centre.
Anthony Tsegakele started it for Brandon, making a contested three at the end of the first overtime to tie it 70-70.
Shawn Maranan was next, knocking down a double-clutching triple for Winnipeg with 13 seconds to go in overtime No. 2 that tied the game at 79.
In the waning seconds of the third overtime, the Wesmen forced a Jahmaal Gardner miss with under 30 seconds to go and set up for the last shot. After Maranan dribbled the clock down and wasn't able to find a shot, he did find Stewart, pitching it out to the second-year forward on the left wing. Stewart pump-faked under Tsegakele, reset his feet and drilled the shot that sent the Bobcats packing and the Wesmen on to another round of post-season play.
After Khari Ojeda-Harvey hit a three to put the Bobcats up 84-81, BU was held scoreless for the final 3:53 of the third overtime.
Alberto Gordo got a shot in the lane to drop to cut the lead to one, Mikhail Mikhailov hit one of two free throws a couple of minutes later to tie the game, and then Stewart finished it on the next possession.
Stewart led four Wesmen players in double figures with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Mikhailov had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Alberto Gordo added 17 and a career-high 11 rebounds, and Maranan also scored 17.
The Bobcats, who made 22 threes on 48 per cent shooting in a play-in win over Fraser Valley on Friday, went 10-for-34 on Saturday.
Tsegakele was relentless for Brandon, playing 54 minutes and scoring 27 points with 18 rebounds and five assists.
Ojeda-Harvey finished with 23 points and was 5-for-9 from three. Elisha Ampofo added 11 points off the bench.
Donald Stewart hit a game-winning three with 0.1 seconds left in triple overtime to push the Wesmen men's basketball team into the Canada West final four with an 87-84 quarter-final victory over the Brandon Bobcats Saturday at the Duckworth Centre.
The result sends the Wesmen to the conference semifinal next weekend, Winnipeg's first trip to the final four since winning bronze in 2013.
Stewart's three-pointer was just the last in a series of remarkable makes that extended the longest game ever played in the Duckworth Centre.
Anthony Tsegakele started it for Brandon, making a contested three at the end of the first overtime to tie it 70-70.
Shawn Maranan was next, knocking down a double-clutching triple for Winnipeg with 13 seconds to go in overtime No. 2 that tied the game at 79.
In the waning seconds of the third overtime, the Wesmen forced a Jahmaal Gardner miss with under 30 seconds to go and set up for the last shot. After Maranan dribbled the clock down and wasn't able to find a shot, he did find Stewart, pitching it out to the second-year forward on the left wing. Stewart pump-faked under Tsegakele, reset his feet and drilled the shot that sent the Bobcats packing and the Wesmen on to another round of post-season play.
After Khari Ojeda-Harvey hit a three to put the Bobcats up 84-81, BU was held scoreless for the final 3:53 of the third overtime.
Alberto Gordo got a shot in the lane to drop to cut the lead to one, Mikhail Mikhailov hit one of two free throws a couple of minutes later to tie the game, and then Stewart finished it on the next possession.
Stewart led four Wesmen players in double figures with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Mikhailov had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Alberto Gordo added 17 and a career-high 11 rebounds, and Maranan also scored 17.
The Bobcats, who made 22 threes on 48 per cent shooting in a play-in win over Fraser Valley on Friday, went 10-for-34 on Saturday.
Tsegakele was relentless for Brandon, playing 54 minutes and scoring 27 points with 18 rebounds and five assists.
Ojeda-Harvey finished with 23 points and was 5-for-9 from three. Elisha Ampofo added 11 points off the bench.