The University of Regina's men's basketball team led by as many as 18 points on Thursday night, but Manitoba came all the way back for a 94-84 win in Game 1 of a best-of-three Canada West play-in series at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
The Cougars took a 16-point lead into the halftime break and went up 54-36 on a
Travis Sylvestre bucket early in the third, but it was all Manitoba from there. The Bisons went on a 16-2 run in the third quarter to get close, and then got the final two buckets to draw level at 67-67 heading into the fourth.
And Manitoba continued that momentum into the final period, going on a 9-0 run with four different players scoring to take the lead for good. The Bisons went on another 10-0 run over a three-minute span midway through the period to go up 86-72, and Manitoba led by double digits the rest of the way.
Manitoba's A.J. Basi scored a game-high 26 points, while Justus Alleyn added 16 points and Keith Omoerah had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Joey Nitychoruk scored 13 points and Ilarion Bonhomme added 11 as Manitoba had five different players in double figures.
Brian Ofori (pictured) was 8-for-11 from the field and finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for a big double-double.
Brandon Tull scored 16 points, while rookie
Johneil Johnson finished with 13 points and
Alex Igual scored 12 while also leading the Cougars in both assists (5) and steals (5). Regina shot 53% from the field as a team including 10-for-21 from three-point range, but the Cougars were also 10-for-21 on free throws and gave up 22 points off turnovers to Manitoba.
After an evenly played first quarter, the Cougars had a huge second quarter as they outscored Manitoba by a 28-14 margin. Ofori had 11 points and six quarters in the second alone, as the Cougars went on a 10-2 run to start the quarter and had another 11-2 run later on. Regina held a 52-36 lead at halftime, but the Bisons outscored the Cougars by a 58-32 margin in the second half to pull out the win.
Game 2 is scheduled for Friday night (7:30) at the IGAC.
