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.

IT’S not quite the Olympics, but Winnipeg-born speed skater Skylar Van Horne is headed overseas with the Maple Leaf on her back.

The 18-year-old will represent Canada in Inzell, Germany, for the ISU Junior World Cup Final and ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships this month.

Van Horne races in the women’s 1,000-metre event at the Junior World Cup, which goes Feb. 21-22. She’ll have a full slate the following week as she races in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, Team Sprint and Team Pursuit events at the World Junior Championships from Feb. 27 to March 1.

Van Horne’s selection comes after a second-place overall showing at the Canadian Junior Long Track Championships in Quebec City last month. She placed first in the 1,500m, 1,000m and Team Pursuit, second in the 500m and third in the 3,000m.