WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Bisons are off to the Canada West Semifinal after holding off the University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team 75-52 on Saturday night at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

The Bisons played hard on the glass, earning 13 second-chance points compared to two for Calgary while limiting versatile veteran forward Mason Foreman to just nine points. 

Isaac Miller-Jose had a strong performance for Manitoba, dropping a double-double including a career-high 20 points along with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots. 

He was matched up against Foreman for a significant portion of the game, holding him to three field goals and one trey on 11 total attempts. 

Wyatt Tait also defended Foreman and added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Cieran O'Hara had five boards as the Bisons won the battle on the glass by five with eight different players tallying at least one rebound.

Dinos guard Noah Wharton had a fiery performance, hustling to grab a game-high 22 points along with six rebounds while shooting six-of-nine from midrange. Foreman added a team-high 13 rebounds, while nine of Alan Spoonhunter's 15 points came from the perimeter, and the Dinos shot 43 percent overall from the field. 

After a slow start, the Bisons found their footing and entered halftime up by four after being down by as much as 11 points throughout the first two quarters. 

The Bisons catapulted up 55-37 halfway through the third as they rallied behind a plethora of offensive firepower from three, and steady team defence.

The Dinos fought through the adversity, handed the keys to their defence and pushed the Bisons to foul – forcing seven possession changes just off player fouls in the third. They also had five steals. 

Calgary began to shift the tides, rallying back from a 57-46 deficit, bringing it within two possessions multiple times in the fourth. They relied heavily on Wharton to run the offence, as he dropped seven key points down the stretch to keep the Dinos within a point of the lead. 

Down by one with 22 seconds remaining, the Dinos were forced to commit fouls to stay in the game – sending Simon Hildebrandt and Miller-Jose to the line as they sank their free throws to seal the game in the final nail-biting moments. 

The Bisons now wait to see whether they play against Regina or their cross-town rival Winnipeg Wesmen in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 pm. 

The defeat marks the final game for Foreman, who has been a Dino since 2017 and was a member of Calgary's first national championship in men's basketball in 2018. He graduates alongside Ezeoha Santiago and Jackson Bayles.

-UC-