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Winnipeg, Man. - The Saskatchewan Huskies dropped two games on the road last weekend in their first trip to Winnipeg for conference play in four years. Saskatchewan remains in third place in the Central Division standings.

Saskatchewan 85 at Manitoba 89

Friday night’s action at the Investors Group Athletic Centre saw the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies (7-6) taking on the Bisons (2-11) in their second straight week at home. Anyone who’s been following the Herd this season knows their weak record on paper isn’t any indicator of how well they’ve been playing as of late. Friday’s game was no different.

The biggest difference on the night however, was a bison home win; the only part of the equation that’s been missing for the Bisons this season. The final score was 89-85.

"Finally, I get to talk about how positive we’ve been playing and put a win behind it," said head coach Rick Suffield joking after the game. "We we’re loose out there tonight, and now we’ll take this confidence and play harder tomorrow."

The home team found themselves trailing early, as the Huskies were dominant around the basket. Several key transitions later, however and the Bisons were leading by six points going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the Bisons were making key buckets, and making it count at the line, increasing their lead in the early part of the frame. Miscues by the Huskies kept the Bisons up by six. The Bisons were trying everything from beyond the arc, but nothing would fall, allowing Saskatchewan to come back.

The Huskies’ Andrew Spagrud led all players with 13 points at the half. The Herd’s Clarence smith wasn’t to far behind with 11 of his own.

The game went into the third with the Bisons ahead by two, 47-45. Both teams were getting into foul trouble midway through the quarter, but the Bisons held their own. Led by captain, Darcy Coss, the Herd put a nice string of points together to increase their lead on the Huskies in the final minutes of the quarter.

Going into the final quarter the crowd was starting to buzz. A Bison home win was close. Leading by as much as 16 points, the Bisons fourth quarter became a see saw battle. In just over two minutes the Herd’s lead dwindled to just over five points. The two teams traded big 3-balls in the final minutes. Even though Saskatchewan put up a good fight, in the end, the Herd was too much, running out the clock, and getting their first home win since February 3, 2007.

Kyle Grant led all players with 30 points on the night for the Huskies and set a school record with nine made three-pointers, but the real story was the fact the Bisons had four players in double figures. Issac Ansah had 19 points, followed by Clarence Smith with 18, Coss had 17, and Brian Crowe cleaned up with 12 of his own.

Spagrud broke the Huskies all-time rebounding record by five. Spagrud had 12 in the game putting him at 1649. The record was previously held by Byron Tokarchuk at 1644.

Grant's nine three's also tied the Canada West record shared by John Vigna (Calgary), Aaron Olson (Victoria) and Brian Banman (TWU). By Manitoba Sports Info

Saskatchewan 64 at Winnipeg 75

The Winnipeg Wesmen rebounded from a tough loss Friday night to Alberta and played a solid game defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies 75-64 Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre.

Fifth year guard Erfan Nasajpour led the way for Winnipeg scoring a game high 22 points, including three-three pointers, hauled in 10 rebounds and added four assists. Nick Lother had a solid game for the Wesmen finishing with 17 points. Matt Opalko also scored in double digits, adding 11 points. First year post Ben Kingdon hauled in 10 rebounds.

The Huskies were led by Andrew Spagrud's 18 points. He was followed by Troy Gottselig, who finished with a double-double 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Huskies held the early advantage in the contest holding a 19-13 lead after the iopening ten minutes of play.

The second quarter was the turning point in the game with the Wesmen outscoring the Huskies 25-11. Nasajpour scored 16 points in the quarter, including 14 straight points to put the Wesmen back ine game and give the team their first lead of the game. Winnipeg went into halftime with a 38-30 lead.

In the third quarter the Huskies got themselves back in the game outscoring Winnipeg 21-16 to cut the Wesmen lead to 54-51 after three quarters.

Winnipeg held their composure in the fourth quarter and were perfect from the free-throw line in the final minute to preserve the victory.

The victory improves evens Winnipeg's record to 7-7, tied for second place with Regina in the Great Plains Division of the Canada West Conference. Saskatchewan also sits with a 7-7 record.