EDMONTON — What. Just. Happened?
The Winnipeg Wesmen men’s basketball team staged arguably the greatest comeback in program history Saturday, erasing a 25-point fourth quarter deficit to shock the Alberta Golden Bears 85-83 in overtime in a Canada West conference game at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
It takes more than one statistic, however, to fully comprehend the audacity of what the Wesmen pulled off.
• They played without all-star guard Shawn Maranan
• They were down 25 with eight minutes left
• They were down 21 with 6:20 left
• They were down 13 with 2:21 to go
• They were still down 10 with 1:11 to go
• They were down six with 27 seconds remaining
• They were down four with 15 seconds left
• They were down one — without the ball — with 11 seconds left and didn’t end up needing to foul
• They closed the fourth on an 8-minute, 31-6 run.
Add in that one of their top scorers, Donald Stewart, was held to one point and fouled out in overtime, and there is seemingly no sense to be found in how the Wesmen came away victorious.
And yet they did.
In part because of Alberto Gordo who scored 11 of his team-high 22 points in the stirring fourth-quarter comeback. Lamar Everd added eight points in the Wesmen run that tied the game at 78 on Stewart’s free throw with eight seconds left.
When all was said and done, the Wesmen remained one of only two undefeated teams in the country as they take that 7-0 record into a semester-ending clash with the Manitoba Bisons Thursday night at the Duckworth Centre (8 p.m.)
The Wesmen did have one smaller comeback in them in overtime, as well. With Winnipeg leading 80-78, Isaac Simon hit a three with 3:10 to go. On the next possession, Gordo made an acrobatic reverse layup, the Wesmen got a stop following that and Malachi Alexander followed with a layup that was awarded on a goaltend by Caiden Kushnir.
The Wesmen then survived: Simon was fouled on a three-point attempt with Winnipeg up 84-82 and 16 seconds on the clock. Simon, however, made just one of his three free throws and Alberta was forced to foul.
Emmanuel Thomas wasn’t able to push the lead up from the free-throw line and Alberta got the ball down one with 13 seconds to go. Ryan Luke clamped down on Kushnir in the post forcing a kickout, and Gordo flashed to the wing to block a three-point attempt and give the Wesmen the ball. Everd would add one of two from the line with six seconds left, and a desperation pass down the floor was intercepted by Malachi Alexander as the Wesmen bench flooded onto the floor to celebrate.
Everd had 16 points off the bench as one of five Wesmen in double figures. Alexander had 15 points, Ryan Luke added 11 points and eight rebounds, and Thomas had 11 and seven.
Simon’s 22 topped the Bears, with Logan Powell scoring 17, Kyle Varner 12 and Fahad Yusuf 10.
