The Winnipeg Wesmen earned a significant preseason victory on Tuesday, defeating the NCAA Division I South Dakota Coyotes 80-65 in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg controlled much of the contest. The Wesmen held the lead for 37:24 and built an advantage as large as 18 points before closing out the 15-point victory.
Elijah Mensah led Winnipeg offensively with 28 points and four rebounds. Kato Jaro added 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds, giving the Wesmen two 20-point scorers against their Division I opponent.
Winnipeg also found success from beyond the arc. The Wesmen connected on 12 three-pointers while shooting 38.7 per cent from three, compared to South Dakota’s five makes from outside.
Those results show how difficult victories over Division I programs have been to come by in recent years. NCAA teams regularly travel north for preseason exhibition tours, giving U SPORTS programs opportunities to test themselves against Division I competition, but Canadian victories have remained relatively uncommon.
Winnipeg’s performance is therefore noteworthy not simply because of the opponent, but because of how the Wesmen won. They did not need a last-second shot or a narrow finish. Winnipeg led for the overwhelming majority of the game and ultimately won by 15 points.
While yes, U SPORTS’ record against D1 teams hasn’t been so pretty, I think this demonstrates that the talent is there. The gap between the two levels may be larger when considering depth, resources and the overall number of high-level players, but games like this show that high-end U SPORTS talent can compete with Division I competition. Winnipeg did more than stay competitive with South Dakota. They beat them, and did so convincingly.
