Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins were mostly locked in against the Manitoba Bisons – but one lapse late in the third quarter was all it took for one of the best teams in the country to snag the momentum away for good on Saturday.
The Griffins held the lead for the first 25 minutes and were still up 52-51 with just 2:19 left in the third quarter. But then the Bisons took advantage of some miscues and turnovers, scoring seven-straight points as part of an 11-1 run to finish the third. And despite only holding the lead for 2:35 after three quarters, they wouldn't relinquish it as MacEwan fell 88-77 at the David Atkinson Gym.
"I think the first half, we played offensively, which is good, and defensively it was the most impressive part. We had our hands out and deflected a lot of balls and caused a lot of turnovers," said Griffins assistant coach Brian Ortiz.
"In that third quarter we had too many silly turnovers and that caused a lot of easy shots for them, and on defence, our intensity just wasn't there."
Joel Seke led the Griffins with a career-high 28 points (the ninth most by a Griffin in a Canada West game) and five rebounds, while Job Janda had 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss for MacEwan.
Mason Kraus led Manitoba with 14 points, seven assists and five steals in the win for the Bisons.
The Griffins came out strong right from the opening tip. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter, and led 14-4 midway through the quarter, but Manitoba would claw back, and it was deadlocked at 18-18 after the opening quarter.
MacEwan continued to force Manitoba into making several uncharacteristic turnovers. Their energy on defence was running all through their lineup, as they held the Bisons to just 34 points in the first half.
"We did a good job of eliminating their threes in the first half, and I really liked the way we were finding ways to create turnovers on defence. We did a lot of good things in that first half," said Griffins forward Milan Jaksic, who returned from injury and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
DUNK!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Basketball Team (@Griffins_MBB) February 9, 2025
Joel Seke finishes it off with authority after a sublime steal and nifty back pass by big man Dami Osuma!
The @MacEwanGriffins lead @umbisons 38-34 at the half. Seke has 16 points so far for MacEwan.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/pRyvUwLJYG
But after that tough end to the third quarter, the Griffins found themselves down 58-52, and while they've shown they can come back from fourth-quarter deficits this season, the Griffins' tank was running on empty, and they just couldn't get on any sort of run to get momentum down the stretch.
Manitoba also caught fire from beyond the arc, finishing a blistering 50 per cent (13-of-26) from deep, including Manyang Tong, who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, and was a perfect 4-of-4 from long range.
"It speaks to our defensive intensity and our rotations in that second half. We talked about not wanting to give them deep penetration looks for open threes, and that's what happened," said Ortiz.
"We know they have some shooters and when you lack defensive focus against a top team in the country like that, they'll make you pay."
Graduating senior Jordon Fullerton, honoured before the game on Senior Night, poses with head coach Mike Connolly (James Maclennan photo).
It seemed like every time the Griffins would start a run to cut deep into the Bisons lead, Manitoba would have someone step up and drain a three-pointer to kill all momentum.
Kraus hit one early in the fourth quarter, and after Seke cut Manitoba's lead to 70-62 with a corner trey, Tong answered back quickly with a three-pointer and then moments later would drive the rack and hit a tough layup for the hoop and harm, and Manitoba's lead was back up to 14.
"They're a team that can hit shots. They have a lot of shooters, and with our team, we're down to nine guys, and I'm fighting through an injury. All of us are banged up and we're fighting through it, and you could see we were tired in the fourth quarter," said Jaksic.
"Today, we were locked in defensively for a good portion of the game, and then it came down to a two or three possession game, and we just couldn't push through."
MacEwan will now face their cross-town rival, Alberta Golden Bears next weekend at the Saville Community Sports Centre Feb. 14-15.
