It was always going to be a difficult task for the Manitoba Bisons to conquer a nationally ranked team on the road while short on rest.

Make no mistake: it was a scrappy effort from the veteran Bisons, but they ultimately ran out of gas in a season-ending 77-69 defeat against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the Canada West men’s basketball quarterfinals in Vancouver on Friday.

Manitoba had defeated its inter-provincial rival, Brandon Bobcats, in a hard-fought play-in contest at the same venue on Thursday evening and needed to get up again for another high-stakes matchup against the No. 6-ranked team in the country.

A high-paced affair saw the Thunderbirds hold leads of 18-15, 39-28 and 59-49 at the end of each frame.

IT was far from a banner day on offence for the Manitoba Bisons, but it didn’t need to be with the way they took care of business on their end of the floor.

Less than a week after they dominated their inter-provincial rival in consecutive contests at home, the Bisons were pushed much harder by the Brandon Bobcats in Thursday night’s Canada West conference hoops play-in game on a neutral court, but emerged with a 79-68 victory at the University of British Columbia’s War Memorial Gym.

A strong fourth quarter, spurred by 11 points from fifth-year guard Daren Watts — who finished with 19 — saved fifth-seeded Manitoba from an upset against its 12th-seeded opponent.

The Bisons held leads of 20-15 and 36-29 after the first two quarters, but the Bobcats came alive offensively out of the break, scoring 26 in the third frame to take a 55-53 lead into the final quarter.