Big Shot Don lifts Wesmen past Bisons

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This article was published 03/02/2024 (952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Donald Stewart scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to spark the visiting Winnipeg Wesmen to an 88-78 triumph over the Manitoba Bisons in a crucial Canada West Universities Athletic Association men’s basketball game before 1,287 fans at Investors Group Athletic Centre Saturday.

Stewart, dubbed Big Shot Don since his game-winning field goal to beat the Brandon Bobcats in a triple overtime playoff game last season, had 22 points in Thursday’s 86-79 win over the Bisons.

“He’s got a lot of heart and he’s a tremendous teammate,” said Wesmen head coach Mike Raimbault of Stewart. “He’s totally committed to the group and the team and the program. He does whatever we asked him, he’s a great leader. We’re just really excited for him to be in some big spots and some big moments and we have a lot of faith in him.”

Winnipeg improved to 13-5 in conference play while Manitoba dropped to 11-7 in the battle for playoff position for the conference playoff tournament, scheduled for Feb. 21-25 at IGAC.

Stewart, who entered Saturday’s action averaging 12.3 points per game, also hauled down 10 rebounds to help the Wesmen erase a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter.

“One thing that sort of gets overlooked with Donald is how much he’s improved every single season,” added Raimbault. “Coming out of high school he obviously had to work really hard to gain weight to change his body and to find some comfort in the physicality of the game. And you look tonight, he was in a bunch of spots where it was physical and he was able to make some plays in those moments.”

Malachi Alexander added 21 points for the winners while teammate Mike Mikhailov added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The game was costly for the Bisons in the standings and could have major ramifications for their lineup after all-star forward Simon Hildebrandt was helped off the floor with an apparent lower-body injury with 3:34 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Wesmen leading 74-66.

Hildebrandt, who did not return to the game, finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Daren Watts led the Bisons with 26 points while Wyatt Tait and Jonam Kazadi added 10 apiece.

Earlier, point guard Lauren Bartlett scored a game-high 26 points and added 11 assists to spark the Manitoba women to their second consecutive conference win over Winnipeg, a 98-82 decision Saturday at IGAC.

Manitoba improved to 6-12 while Winnipeg slipped to 5-13 in conference play.

Freshman forward Anna Miko came off the bench to supply 22 points and five rebounds to the winning cause. Emily Johnson had 18 points and 18 rebounds for the winners, who also got a 14-point performance from Emmerson Martin.

Raia Guinto had 19 points to lead the Wesmen, who dropped a 73-66 decision to the visiting Bisons on Thursday.

VOLLEYBALL: Raya Surinx drilled 24 kills and added 10 digs to spark the No. 3 Manitoba women to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18) win over Winnipeg at the Duckworth Centre.

The Bisons, who won both ends of the home-and-home series, got 11 and 10 kills from Brenna Bedosky and Light Uchehukwu, respectively.

Manitoba libero Julia Arnold had 25 digs.

Brooke Duncalfe led the Wesmen with 15 kills. Jaya Dzikowicz had 13 kills and 11 digs for the hosts.

Manitoba improved to 17-3 in Canada West while Winnipeg is 6-14.

In men’s action, Winnipeg completed a sweep of a home-and-home series by beating Manitoba 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-17).

Nigel Nielsen had 15 kills and seven digs for the winners, while Isaiah Olfert added 13 kills and five digs.

Karil Dasash Adeh hammered 12 kills and Spencer Grahame added 10 more for the Bisons, who have a 11-9 conference record. Winnipeg improved to 13-9.

HOCKEY: Manitoba’s four-game winning streak in women’s hockey came to an end Saturday afternoon in a 3-2 loss to the MacEwan Griffins in Edmonton.

Brenna Nicol and Julia Bird had goals for the Bisons, who are 10-15-1-0-1-0. The Griffins improved to 5-21-0-1-2-0.

In Friday’s series opener, Kate Gregoire’s goal was the difference in overtime as the Manitoba posted a 4-3 victory.

In men’s action at Wayne Fleming Arena, Manitoba rallied from a 3-1 deficit on goals by Riley Zimmerman and Colton Veloso in the final minute of regulation with the goalie pulled to force overtime against MacEwan.

Defenceman Chase Hartje then scored the lone goal in a shootout to give the Bisons a 4-3 victory.

Manitoba is 5-20-1-1-1-0 while MacEwan is 9-17-0-0-0-2.