Manitoba universities legitimate Canada West hoops contenders By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 4:32 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024

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This article was published 10/01/2024 (994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Scan the Canada West university men’s basketball standings and you are likely to be drawn to one conclusion.

All three of the province’s schools will be legitimate threats to capture the conference title when the top 12 regular-season finishers convene at Investors Group Athletic Centre for the Canada West playoff tournament, Feb. 21—25.

The nation’s No.1-ranked squad, the Victoria Vikes, hold top spot in the conference with a 7-1 record, followed closely by the No. 6 Manitoba Bisons at 10-2, the Regina Cougars at 8-2, and four clubs — Brandon Bobcats, Calgary Dinos, No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds and the No. 9 Winnipeg Wesmen — dead even at 8-4.

“If had to put money on it, I would say Victoria, Manitoba, Winnipeg would be the three top teams with UBC somewhere in there,” says Brandon head coach Gil Cheung, deftly portraying his squad as an underdog. “That being said, we split with Winnipeg and Manitoba, we swept Calgary and Calgary beat Vic at Vic. So, I think everyone’s kind of close.”

Wesmen head coach Mike Raimbault, whose team hosts the Alberta Golden Bears on Friday and Saturday, is looking for a little more from his players down the stretch.

“To be fully honest, we’re still sort of searching to find our rhythm from the top to bottom of the roster,” says Raimbault. “And I think we haven’t played our best game yet by our standards.”

One player expected to be a big factor in the post-season push is second-year forward Elijah Mensah, who has elevated his game since his freshman season when he averaged 9 1/2 minutes, 3.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 48.4 per cent from the field.

In 2023-24, Mensah is up to 10 minutes per game with 9.8 points, 2.6 rebonds and 46.5 per cent shooting. The 6-7 Miles Macdonell grad had a career-high 17 points in Winnipeg’s 88-83 win in Brandon last Saturday night.

“He had a great weekend for us down in Brandon and he continues to take steps forward and he was instrumental in helping us win on Saturday,” said Raimbault. “He’s active on the glass, he’s got good legs, he defends multiple positions and I think every time he has been given an opportunity, he’s just played with great confidence and energy and good things have been happening.”

Manitoba, meanwhile, is hoping to pad its win total with a pair of weekend games on the road at UBC. The Bisons, asserts head coach Kirby Schepp, have the toughest second-half schedule in the country with doubleheaders still to come against Victoria and Winnipeg.

Point guard Mason Kraus, leading the conference with 3.0 steals per game, believes the Bisons are rounding into form.

“We feel like we should be 11-1 — we shouldn’t have dropped that one to Brandon — but that was a good learning moment for us,” says Kraus. “I feel like right now this is exactly where we expected to be, going into the tougher end of the schedule against the Victorias of the world and U of W and UBC. We’re confident where we are.”

Kraus doesn’t hesitate when asked to name the team’s breakout star of 2023-24. That would be his backcourt partner, third-year shooting guard Daren Watts, who has started all 12 conference games, averaging 27 1/2 minutes, 3.5 rebounds and 14.7 points.

“Daren went from maybe playing like four minutes a game in garbage time (as a rookie), basically, to being our starting shooting guard averaging like 14 points a game,” says Kraus. “He’s taken the next step.”

The Bobcats, on the road against the MacEwan Griffins (Edmonton) this weekend, are probably the biggest surprise in the conference after losing first-team all-conference forward Anthony Tsegakele to a pro team in France in the off-season and high-scoring guard Jahmaal Gardner, who signed with a pro team in Morocco two days before the season opened.

Both players had eligibility remaining.

“Our core group has been together for three years now and it’s kind of been the attitude of having the next guy be ready to go,” says Cheung.

“These kids have stuck it out and kind of waiting for their opportunity and their number has been called and they’ve been great for us this season and in seasons past, but their roles have changed a bit. We’re fortunate enough to be 8-4 right now and kind of be right in the thick of things.”

Cheung could be worthy of earning coach-of-the-year honours.

“He would get my vote at this juncture,” says Raimbault. “I mean, not only because of their record and how they’re playing, but I think they’ve also weathered the storm of having Anthony not return and losing Gardner early in the season and making adjustments to how they were going to play. They’ve had some people step up in major ways.”

Guard Travis Hamberger, once a lightly regarded recruit out of Richmond, B.C., has become essential to BU’s attack.

“We thought of him coming in — this being his third year — playing 18-20 minutes and backing up Jahmaal and the other guard spot but he’s averaging over 30 minutes a game and I think he’s probably close to 14 points a game as well,” says Cheung.

“That’s a huge jump going from 4 1/2 a game to playing over 30 minutes and added 10 points a game in one of the toughest conferences in the country. He does everything for us on both ends of the court.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca