Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
WINNIPEG – Eric Magdanz challenged his team to play with the intensity that leader and fifth-year post player Ryan Coleman exhibited on Friday night when he had 26 points and nearly posted a double-double.
They listened and delivered.
From the top to the bottom of the roster, the Griffins played with heart, desire and intensity as they dominated the Winnipeg Wesmen during a second-half surge and emerged with an 88-66 win in Saturday's rematch to earn a weekend split.
"Everybody who touched the floor tonight was committed for the entire time they were on there," said Magdanz, who went deep into his rotation, using 12 players in the contest. "We didn't have defensive lapses that allowed them to score. We moved the ball offensively and made plays for each other.
"Those two things combined really set the tone for our game and allowed us to really build a lead at the end."
Coleman actually only had six points on this night, but as has been the case for the Griffins this season, they have multiple guys capable of hitting double digits. On Saturday, it was Deonte Doslov-Doctor's turn to lead the way with 18 points, while Ali Raza had a terrific double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds, adding a game-high five steals.
Liban Yousef (12 points and seven boards), Jake Notice (11 points) and Adonis Monfort Palomino (eight points, eight assists, three steals and three rebounds) all also factored big into the victory. Yousef came up especially big in the fourth quarter when the Griffins outscored the Wesmen 31-14.
"He came in off the bench and actually got five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, which was huge for us," said Magdanz. "It gave us extra offensive possessions and it really helped us burn clock without them having the ball.
"That was huge for us to put it away."
Winnipeg got 20 points from Narcisse Ambanza (who had a double-double with 10 boards) and 13 from Billy Yaworsky, but the Griffins held the team's second leading scorer Denzel Lynch-Blair to just seven points.
"We talked last night about trying to put different pieces of our game together," said Magdanz. "We started to figure out how to score, but in figuring out how to score our defence has waned a bit in previous games. (Tonight), it feels like we sort of put all the elements together.
"We had multiple guys scoring, we had multiple guys taking on defensive responsibilities and rebounding the ball. We had a lot of guys come off the bench and make huge contributions. So, it feels like we finally put it all together."
And just at the right time. The Griffins move to 2-8 on the season and head into the semester break on a winning note, giving them something to build off of in the second half as they try to make a playoff push (two wins back with two games in hand).
"It feels really good for guys," said Magdanz. "We've had some huge development this semester and made some huge improvements to our team individually and as a whole. It's a nice way to cap it off and really be able to tangibly show that development has happened."
The Griffins will return to action on Jan. 5-6 when they'll host Saskatchewan (2-8).
