The Huskies men’s basketball squad split their weekend series with the Manitoba Bisons Feb. 8 and 9. They now sit in a three-way tie for first spot in the Canada West’s Prairie Conference with one week remaining in the regular season.

The Dogs fell 83-74 Friday night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre on the University of Manitoba campus.

Manitoba’s Stephan Walton tallied 20 points in the game to lead the Bisons to victory while fifth-year point guard Kevin Oliver picked up 12 points and 11 rebounds to earn the double-double. Stephon Lamar led the Saskatchewan scorers with 20 points. The Canada West male athlete of the week, Matthew Forbes, held strong under the basket to add 15 points for the Dogs.

In Saturday night’s game, though, the Huskies rallied for a 94-84 victory.

Huge offensive numbers by Lamar kept the game out of the Bisons’ reach in the second half of the contest. Lamar led all players in points, racking up 37 in the win.

Manitoba closes out its regular season on Feb. 13 with a crucial game against the Winnipeg Wesmen. The Huskies, meanwhile, finish off their schedule with an important two-game home set next weekend against the Alberta Golden Bears.

Saskatchewan’s Saturday night win over Manitoba paired with an Alberta loss to Winnipeg the same night means the Huskies, Bisons and Golden Bears are tied for first place in Canada West’s Prairie Division with 28 points. Trailing closely behind are the Wesmen and Calgary Dinos with 26 and 24 points, respectively.

Only the top four teams in both of Canada West’s divisions can qualify for playoffs. The best four in the Prairie Division cross over to take on one of the top four Pacific Division teams.

Both Saskatchewan and Alberta, at 14-6, have two games remaining on the schedule, while the 14-7 Bisons only have one.

The final weekend of the regular season will be a battle of the best as Alberta will travel to the PAC to take on the Huskies. If either team can sweep the weekend series, the winning team would guarantee themselves first place while the team on the losing end of a two-game sweep could fall far enough to miss the playoffs entirely.

This will be the first battle between the two teams this season. Due to the men’s Huskies volleyball team hosting quarter-final playoffs, the men’s basketball squad will tip-off against Alberta at 4 p.m. on Feb. 15 and at 6 p.m. on Feb. 16.

The Huskies women’s basketball squad punched their ticket to the Canada West post-season.

Consistency has been the Huskies trademark when playing away from home. The squad now boasts a 9-2 record when playing on another team’s court. The team’s consistency showed on the scoreboard this past weekend too as the team posted exactly the same 72-point offensive total in back-to-back games. The Huskies won 72-62 on Friday night and 72-55 on Saturday.

Saskatchewan’s second-year players Dalyce Emmerson and Kelsey Trulsrud shined on the court both nights. Emmerson had a combined 26 points and 22 rebounds in the two games while Trulsrud finished with 26 points and 19 boards on the weekend.

Bisons’ Sheree Carmona-Galdamez led the home side with a combined 36 points while third-year guard Robyn Eyer chipped in with a 25-point weekend.

Manitoba falls to 2-19 and well out of playoff contention while the Huskies improve to 13-7 and take third spot in the Prairie Division. They will have to fight to keep that third spot, however, as the fourth-place Alberta Pandas will challenge them at the PAC Feb. 15 and 16 in the final weekend of regular season action.

The Pandas are two points back of the Huskies, meaning the Dogs need to win only one of the two games this weekend to hold on to third place. Game times will be Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. against the visiting Pandas.

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Photos: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf &
Calvin So