BISONS AND WESMEN MAKE TRIP TO LANGLEY-Spartans return home for weekend double-header

Basketball (Canada West)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Weekend Preview

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BISONS AND WESMEN MAKE TRIP TO LANGLEY
--Spartans return home for weekend double-header

LANGLEY, British Columbia-The Trinity Western University Spartans men's and women's basketball teams continue their Canada West Conference play this weekend against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen and the University of Manitoba Bisons. The Spartans will battle the Wesmen on Friday night and the Bisons on Saturday evening.

The Winnipeg Wesmen women (2-4) secured a split at home last weekend against the UBC Thunderbirds and Victoria Vikes, with their victory coming against the latter. The Wesmen are led by a pair of freshman guards, Amy Ogidan (1st year, Winnipeg) and Dawna Wright (1st year, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), who average 11.1 points, six rebounds and 10.7 points, 5.6 rebounds per game respectively. Also chipping in for Winnipeg is guard Caitlin Gooch (2nd year, Winnipeg), who contributes 9.5 points and four rebounds per game.

The Manitoba Bisons women (3-3) feature a balanced offensive attack that ranks fourth in the Canada West, averaging 74.1 points per game. Guard Tessa Klassen (2nd year, Winnipeg) and post Melanie Schlichter (4th year, Winnipeg) lead the Bisons in scoring with 10.8 points per game, to which Schlichter adds 4.3 rebounds. Michelle Hynes (3rd year, Hamilton, Ont.) and Kait Flett (3rd year, Winnipeg) round out the Bisons platoon-style offense with 9.8 and 9.4 points respectively, while Flett also paces the Bisons with 6.8 rebounds per contest.

The Spartan women (5-3) are off to their best start in the team's nine year history, and returning home after a weekend sweep against Thompson Rivers University. The Spartans are also a team that shares the ball on offense, as Corina Reimer (2nd year, Abbotsford, B.C.) is the team's top scorer with 8.7 points per game. Reimer isn't shy about doing the dirty work under the glass as well, as she boasts a team-best 8.2 rebounds. Guard Laura Craig (3rd year, Delta, B.C.) continues to be a well-rounded threat, averaging eight points, 4.4 rebounds and over two assists per game. Joining Craig in the backcourt is spark-plug guard Katie Haworth (4th year, Gresham, Ore.), who chips in 7.6 points per game on a sparkling 42.3% from three-point range.

The Winnipeg Wesmen (3-3) treated their fans to an exciting victory against UVIC last weekend, pushing the 2006-07 CIS Silver Medalists to overtime before securing the victory on the strength of Erfan Nasajpour's (5th year, Winnipeg) 41 point performance. Nasajpour does just about everything for the Wesmen, averaging 21.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and over four steals and four assists per game. Nasajpour is third in Canada West scoring, as well as fourth in assists and first in steals. When Nasajpour isn't scoring the ball the Wesmen rely on Nick Lother (2nd year, Winnipeg) and Dan Shynkaryk (5th year, Winnipeg), who score 15.2 and 12.3 points per game respectively. Shynkaryk is also a defensive threat, averaging a Canada West high two blocks per game.

The Manitoba Bisons (0-6) men come into the David E. hungry for their first win of the Canada West season. Guard Isaac Ansah (4th year, Winnipeg) is the top scoring Bison with 19 points per game, to which he adds 4.3 rebounds and better than three assists per contest. After Ansah the Bisons look to veteran forward Darcy Coss (5th year, Winnipeg), who has poured in 16 points per game this season while pulling down 5.6 rebounds a night. Brian Crowe (5th year, Victoria) averages 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds while Myron Dean (4th year, Winnipeg) is third in Canada West blocks with just under two per game.

The Spartan men (2-6) split last weekend in Thompson Rivers and look forward to playing in the friendly confines of the David E. Enarson gymnasium this weekend. The Spartans have enjoyed the success of transfer Lucas Goltz (3rd year, Comox, B.C.), who has led the team thus far with 18.8 points per game, while pulling down an average of 5.3 rebounds each night. Not far behind Goltz is veteran guard Luke Robinson (5th year, Ahousat, B.C.), who averages 17.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and an impressive 3.25 steals per contest. Meanwhile, freshman point guard Jon Loewen (1st year, Abbotsford, B.C.) continues to log big minutes in the backcourt while averaging 11.6 points per game. Forward Joe Vroom (3rd year, Abbotsford, B.C.) is the team leader with 7.5 rebounds a game to which he adds 10.4 points, providing a steady work ethic in the paint.

Game times are 6 p.m. for the women and 8 p.m. for the men.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2008-01-15
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca