WINNIPEG, MB-The game of the day at Wesmen Classic on the HS side went to the MBCI Hawks who took on the heavily favoured Oak Park Raiders, who blew by their opening round match with ease. The two teams had already met during the season, where Oak Park had come out on top in a game the Raiders had trouble closing out.

MBCI got their revenge and took down Oak Park 83-77 in a game that went down to the final quarter.

Torrez McKoy who made his presence felt, had this to say following the game, “Last time we were down 20 points in the fourth, and we came back to lose by two so that gave us a little bit of firepower to come out and beat them.”

The way the game opened stated otherwise as the Hawks found themselves down a quick 5-0; Oak Park used their length and size to dictate the game. However Matt Dyck made some plays and forced MBCI back into the lead.

McKoy had an outstanding opening game where he nearly recorded a triple double, and in this game he was determined to continue his strong play. McKoy was forcing turnovers, getting hands up and being active on defence, all while continuing to produce on the offensive end.

After being down early, MBCI took it to Oak Park, with McKoy and Derek McKnight doing damage to the Raiders defence. The Hawks went on a 24-5 run and led at the end of the quarter 27-13.

However, Oak Park would not give up , as Colson Reimer came alive. The grade 12 dug in and started to score, doing everything from grabbing tough rebounds, making good passes to attacking the basket and scoring.

Following William Sesay’s deep three as the half expired, the Raiders only found themselves down by five. Head Coach John Lundgren must have got the troops to listen because following the break, Oak Park started to claw themselves back into this game and make something of it.

With the final quarter at hand, the MBCI lead was only one. The combination of McKoy and McKnight would put the final nail in the coffin, sealing the deal for their squad.

MBCI’s victory propels them into the championship game and will take on the winner of Garden City VS Kelvin, which is the rematch of the final from the 2011 Classic.

Post-game McKoy seemed focused, but knows the bigger prize is the most important. “It’s a big win but, it doesn’t really matter right now, because we’re trying to get to the main goal, which is the championship.”

John Taylor defeated UW Collegiate to advance to the Consolation final. Zach Giesbrecht 24pts 6rebs 5asts 5stls, Mike Seidu 21pts 7rebs 9asts 3stls in the victory for John Taylor.

NPH Top Performers

MBCI

Torrez McKoy – 28pts, 6rebs, 3asts, 4stls

Derek McKnight – 18pts, 13rebs, 2asts, 2stls

Gurinder Gill – 19pts, 9rebs, 1ast, 3stls

Oak Park

Colson Reimer – 24pts, 15rebs, 2stls

William Sesay – 17pts, 15rebs, 3asts

 

CIS Action

The Men’s side started off with Regina taking on Dickinson State. The Cougars opened with a bang, dictating the pace of the game to Dickinson State, taking a 13-2 lead. However, Dickinson State didn’t come this far to go down without a fight, and fought back to bring it closer. Regina stretched the lead out to 11 at the half, and the Cougars held the lead which fluctuated between double and single digits right till the end, when Dickinson State made a few shots and brought the outcome of the game into question. Regina prevailed with free throws to ice it 83-79. Brandon Tull led the way for Regina with 21pts.

Nationally ranked Ottawa showed off their fire power against the Brandon Bobcats, Ottawa came out on top 78-70. Terry Thomas showed the crowd some of his highlight type dunk capability, throwing down three times throughout the game. At halftime the Bobcats stayed close with Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak lifting the offensive load. The Gee-Gee’s would find their groove and pull away in the third and all but wrap the game up getting production from the entire team.

The third game featured the hometown Winnipeg Wesmen against the Lakeland College Rustlers. The Wesmen jumped out to a strong lead and never looked back. At halftime things were out of hand and Winnipeg led 48-10. The final score would be 85-30 in favour of the Wesmen. Jordan Clennon led the way with 19pts for the Wesmen.

In the final game of the day, the banged up Manitoba Bisons took on the Valley City State Vikings who won the 2011 Classic Championship. However things would turn out differently as Manitoba, despite losing a lot of players to injury got revenge from their 2011 loss to Vikings. After three quarters, Manitoba looked to have the game all but wrapped up, but the Vikings clawed their way back and continued to make shots. Dan Penner made a huge three pointer and Manitoba advances to face Winnipeg in the Semi-Final Sunday night.

NPH Top Performers

Brandon Tull – Regina – 21pts, 6rebs

Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak – Brandon – 23pts, 7rebs

Johnny Berhanemeskel – Ottawa – 17pts, 4rebs, 4asts

Jordan Clennon – Winnipeg – 19pts 7rebs

Dan Penner – Manitoba – 18pts