Calgary, ALTA. — The Mount Royal University men's basketball team faced the University of Winnipeg Wesmen that resulted in a tough loss on Kenyon Court, 83-58. 

The Cougars and Wesmen entered tonight's matchup in a high-pace fashion but both teams struggled to find the net. The first points of the night were made through free throws with Avnoor Bhullar making his two shots at the line. Shawn Maranan finally made the first field goal shortly after. However, from the tipoff, both teams would be plagued with foul trouble which followed throughout the entire game. Emmanuel Thomas also made his mark by making 9 points in the first quarter.  Despite the play going back and forth, Keivonte Watts put up 7 points and Kole Scott was able to secure 6 points for the Cougars. The Wesmen earned nearly all of their points in the first quarter through field goals and offensive rebounds. Whereas, the Cougars gained almost half of their points from the free throw line.

Ryan Luke wasted no time to tie up the game within the first 10 seconds of the second quarter, 21-21. Once again, both teams struggled to take the lid off the basket in this quarter but continued to drain free throws. Despite Kuach Gajak blocking a Wesmen layup, an offensive rebound led to Donald Stewart making a jump-shot three. Later on, Stewart would find his way to the line to put the Wesmen up 32-26 before the latter half of the second quarter. Luke continued to make baskets as he floated in a shot on an inbound play. Sam Barnie immediately responded by knocking down a contested three. Near the end of the quarter, the Cougars and Wesmen exchanged back-to-back layups but neither team would make anymore field goals before entering halftime. However, both teams would share trips to the free throw line to conclude the first half, 37-33 for the Wesmen.

Returning from the halftime break, the Wesmen immediately fouled the Cougars and Daniel Owoeye would clean up a missed layup for a layup of his own. The Cougars started the third by picking up a man-to-man defense to halt the Wesmen's open looks and offensive rebounds. However, Maranan made a quick three off after being left alone at the top of the arc. Maranan established himself as the playmaker of this quarter as he assisted several of Luke and Stewart's tough layups down in the paint. The Wesmen's offense began to pick up pace as Maranan would dance between two defenders to make a tight corner three that would draw a Cougars timeout. The rest of the quarter would be full of made free throws until Barnie drained another three to keep the Cougars alive in this game. The Cougars and Wesmen continued to suffer foul trouble and Jean-Nelson Pigoue would have to exit this match as he reached his fifth foul of the night before the end of the third quarter.

The final quarter of this match would immediately be picked up by the Wesmen as Maranan dished off a rainbow pass to Stewart down low, sending the Wesmen up 57-46. A steal from Luke would draw contact to make 2 shots at the free throw line. Maranan continued to be a problem for the Cougars as his ball handling found success cutting through the Cougars defense. Stewart also powered through the paint and three-point arc to claim 19 points by the halfway mark of this quarter. Dray Walburger and Bhullar pushed the Cougars 9 points closer through 3 three-pointers late into the fourth quarter. However, Alberto Gordo responded to the Cougars efforts by earning 5 more points to the Wesmen's lead of 77-54. Finally, Luke and Gordo finished off the night by sending away two threes to take the victory, 83-58.
Tonight's MVPs are Dray Walburger and Donald Stewart. In spite of the Cougars' first loss of the season, Walburger still found a way to earn 9 points in tonight's matchup. For Stewart, he would put up an impressive 20 points and 10 rebounds, earning himself a double-double.

The Cougars will come back tomorrow night in a rematch against the Winnipeg Wesmen at 7 p.m. MST on Kenyon Court.