Scheduled Game: WINNIPEG*

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 4 T Winnipeg 28 17 20 24 89 « FINAL Trinity Western 10 20 23 29 82

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Game Recap

Men's Basketball (Canada West)
Friday, November 23, 2007
TWU Spartans (82) vs. Winnipeg Wesmen (89)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASAJPOUR LEADS WESMEN OVER SPARTANS

LANGLEY, British Columbia - The Winnipeg Wesmen beat the Trinity Western University Spartans 89-82 despite outscoring the Spartans in only one of the four quarters. The Wesmen jumped out to a 28-10 lead on 66% shooting in the first quarter, and that cushion was enough to hold off the Spartans on their Langley, B.C. campus.

Still, the game was far from over, despite a 45-30 Wesmen advantage at the half. The Spartans were the aggressors in the third, led by post Joe Vroom (Abbotsford, B.C.), who had seven points and three offensive rebounds in just over a minute that cut the Wesmen lead to 47-39. TWU would trim the lead to 54-47 with 3:31 left in the third when Winnipeg's Erfan Nasajpour (Winnipeg) made the play of the night. He buried a deep three, was fouled, and hit the free throw to complete the rare four-point play. He then stole the in-bounds pass and converted the layup to move the Wesmen lead from seven to 13 points in just eight seconds.

Winnipeg led 57-43 to start the fourth, and it looked all but over leading 82-62 with just 4:13 remaining. Then the Spartans mounted their second comeback attempt, led by first year guard Matt Myers (Tumwater, Wash.). He hit three three-pointers in the next three minutes to pull the Spartans to within six at 87-81 with 43 seconds left. But that was as close as TWU would get, as the Wesmen hit two free throws to seal the win 89-82.

Nasajpour continued his spectacular season with a game high 26 points, along with four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Matt Opalko (Winnipeg) finished with 17 points, four rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block, and Dan Shynkaryk (Winnipeg) had eight points, 10 boards and two blocks in just 21 minutes.

The Spartans, who were without leading scorer Lucas Goltz (Comox, B.C.) because of an injury, were led by Vroom's 16 points, five rebounds, three blocks, and four steals. Myers finished with 15 points, making five of nine three point shots, and also contributed four assists and two steals. Jon Loewen (Abbotsford, B.C.) also finished with 15 points, along with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.

"The guys gutted out the last quarter, and especially the last five minutes, where we finally got into our rhythm and forced the pace we wanted to play," said Spartans Head Coach Stan Peters. "But we can't spot the other team an 18 point lead. Still we had guys lay it all out tonight, and we came up just short."

The win moves Winnipeg to 4-3 in the Canada West, while the loss drops Trinity Western to 2-7. Tomorrow night the Spartans host the University of Manitoba Bison at TWU's David E. Enarson Gymnasium while the Wesmen travel down the TransCanada Highway to Burnaby, B.C. to face the Simon Fraser University Clan. Both games are scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip.

Match Notes- Nasajpour scored at least 20 points in a game for the sixth time this season... Myers five three pointers ties him for the sixth highest single game total in Spartans history... The game was broadcast live on GoSpartans.ca

-TW-

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