Winnipeg - The Lethbridge Pronghorns gained a weekend split in dramatic fashion defeating the Winnipeg Wesmen 69-68 in a barn burner Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.

Boxscore

The Pronghorns who dropped the opening game 74-71 Friday night, erased a seven point halftime deficit for the victory.

Daryl Cooper led the Pronghorns with 16 points. Dominyc Coward finished with a double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds. Terrance Blake added 10 points.

The Wesmen were led by Mark McNee's game high 18 points. Benny Iko had a double-double of his own finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds and was a perfect 4-for-4 from three point territory. Dominique Brown had 11 points.

Winnipeg had the lead early on in the contest leading 19-18 after the opening quarter. In the second quarter both teams exchanged baskets and key defensive stops in a fast paced opening seven minutes. A three pointer by Alex Fletcher gave the Pronghorns the lead at 29-27 with under three minutes to play in the opening half. Winnipeg responded in a big way scoring nine unanswered points to take a 36-29 lead into the halftime break.

Lethbridge outscored the Wesmen 20-13 in the third quarter to tie the score at 49-49 after thirty minutes. The teams took turns holding slim leads in a wild fourth quarter. A McNee free throw with 1:10 left tied the score at 68-68. Coward hit one-of-two free throws to give Lethbridge a 69-68 lead with 26 seconds left. A Winnipeg turnover and two missed free throws by Derek Waldner with eight seconds left gave the Wesmen a chance to win the game but Eric Zimmerman's shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim to make the final score 69-68 for the Pronghorns.

Winnipeg (1-1) will head out on the road for a pair of games starting next Friday night in Langley, BC against the Trinity Western University Spartans and the following night in Abbotsford against the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades. Lethbridge (1-1) will host UBC-Okanagan next Friday and Thompson Rivers on Saturday.