Wesmen hoopsters come up short in Halifax

Kevin Civil scored seven of his 14 points in the double overtime period to lead the Quebec-Montreal Citadins to a 90-85 victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen in consolation semifinal action at the U Sports national men’s basketball championship at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax Saturday afternoon.

The Wesmen, making their first appearance at the nationals in 29 years, got a team-high 20 points from Shawn Maranan, who managed only two points in a 91-70 quarter-final loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees 24 on Friday.

Bahaide Haidara had 31 points and five rebounds for the Citadins, who trailed 62-53 heading into the fourth quarter. The teams were tied 72-72 after four quarters and 79-79 after the first overtime period.

Elie Karojo had 11 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists for the winners.

Mike Mikhailov had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Winnipeg while Ryan Luke had 14 points and five rebounds and Alberto Gordo chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.

“I was proud of their effort,” Winnipeg head coach Mike Raimbault told wesmen.ca. “Yesterday was an emotional day, and then to bounce back and play the early one here today I thought our level of effort was where we wanted it to be, and I was certainly proud of the way we continued to fight through the overtime periods to the final buzzer.”

The Wesmen rallied in the first overtime, battling back from five points down to tie it at 77-77. They led 79-77 after a Luke layup with 1:27 to go but weren’t able to score the rest of the way and the Citadins forced a second overtime.

Winnipeg fell behind by five again in the second OT, but weren’t able to get closer than two down.

The Citadins will play the Queen’s Gaels in the Sunday’s consolation final.

— staff