CALGARY – The Winnipeg Wesmen survived a late push from the University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team, earning an 80–78 win in front of a raucous Pack the Jack crowd on Friday night.

The high-tempo, gritty contest marked the third straight Wesmen game decided by a single possession.

Winnipeg earns their fourth win of the season with the result, improving to 4-2, while Calgary slips to 4-3 with their second consecutive home defeat.

Despite entering the game with the best three-point defence in Canada West, the Wesmen conceded six triples in the opening 20 minutes, helping Calgary build a seven-point halftime lead.

"I told myself tonight I was going to be aggressive, attack hard no matter what," said Daniel Chijioke, who finished with a team-high 19 points in a standout performance.

The Wesmen jumped on the Dinos to start the third quarter, knocking down consecutive threes to pull within one point. After trailing for most of the game, Winnipeg regained the lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The game remained highly contested in the final 12 minutes, with Winnipeg clinging to a single digit lead. Malachi Alexander paced all Wesmen with 22 points on an efficient 9-for-14 shooting night.

Winnipeg seemingly threw a knockout punch at the three minutes mark with an 8-0 run, only to see Calgary claw back into the game one final time. With both Donald Stewart and Alexander fouled out, the Dinos mounted one final surge, cutting the deficit to five with the ball in the dying seconds. After some costly missed free throws, Aidan Smith hit a layup with no time remaining to bring the final deficit to two points. 

While neither team commanded the free throw line, the Wesmen made them when it counted. Winnipeg shot 9-for-12 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. Calgary, meanwhile, finished the night with 14 missed free throws.

The Dinos will look to earn a hard-fought split on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-