The Trinity Western Spartans men’s basketball team was involved in a pair of close finishes down the stretch, one which went their way, while the other did not.
The Spartans’ Robert Rodriguez banked in a floating lay-up with five seconds to play and then Manitoba missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer which gave Trinity Western an 85-84 come-from-behind victory over the Bisons at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Friday night in Winnipeg.
But playing at the Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium in Winnipeg the next night, the Wesmen scored the decisive basket with eight seconds to play in a 80-79 victory.
The results leave Trinity Western with a 6-6 record in Canada West conference play.
The Spartans shot great in the loss — they connected on 54.5 per cent (30-for-55) from the field and 63.2 per cent (12-for-19) from the three-point line — but Winnipeg overcame those numbers by attempting 20 more shots.
“We shot the ball well enough to win, but we didn’t deserve to win,” said Trinity Western coach Scott Allen. “We played undisciplined and gave them 20 more shots by not controlling our turnovers and their offensive rebounding.”
The team was led by Denny McDonald’s 16 points while Anthony Ottley had 15.
In the team’s victory, Mark Perrin led the way with 20 points while Justin Bakuteka came off the bench to score 19.
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The Trinity Western Spartans women’s basketball team was also in Winnipeg and also managed a split, beating the Bisons 66-57 — to snap a nine-game conference losing streak — before falling 80-61 the next night to the Wesmen.
The results leave the team at 2-10.
Head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul was happy to earn a split on the tough road trip.
“I think our younger ones came in and (had) some great opportunities to understand what it takes to play at the CIS level,” she said. “We have to learn from this and we need to be ready to battle for the rest of the semester.”
Holly Strom scored 22 in the victory while Janelle Traber chipped in with 15. Traber also had 11 in the defeat to lead the team.
