In what has become a yearly tradition in mid-February in Regina, the University of Regina's men's basketball team will host the Winnipeg Wesmen this weekend in a best-of-three Great Plains Division semifinal series, which begins Thursday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

This weekend's series will mark the fifth consecutive year that the U of R has hosted the Wesmen in the playoffs. Winnipeg will be out for revenge, as the Cougars have never lost a best-of-three series to the Wesmen in Regina.

Last weekend, the Cougars hosted Brandon at the CKHS, needing a two-game sweep over the Bobcats to claim first place in the division. The Cougars came through with a 65-64 win on Friday night, but a late three-pointer by Tarik Tokar gave the Bobcats a 69-68 victory on Saturday.

The victory gave Brandon (13-9) the regular season division title and the right to a first-round bye, while the Cougars (12-10) took second place in the Great Plains for the third consecutive season. Winnipeg finished in third place at 5-17, while Manitoba (4-16) finished out of the playoffs.

Look for Jeff Lukomski, Kris Heshka, Jamal Williams, and Paul Schubach to all get the start for Regina, as those four started all 22 conference games for the Cougars this season. The fifth starting spot could go to either Jordan McFarlen or Marek Downarowicz, who made his second start of the season during Saturday's game against Brandon.

Third-year guard Nick Lother, who finished seventh in the conference with an average of 18.7 points per game, is Winnipeg's most dangerous offensive weapon. Peter Lomuro (14.1) and Mike James (12.5) also averaged in double digits in points for the Wesmen, who are coached by eighth-year head coach Dave Crook.

Regina and Winnipeg faced each other four times during the conference season, with the Cougars recording 91-61 and 82-69 victories in Regina during the first weekend of the Canada West schedule, and the Wesmen scoring 77-64 and 64-62 wins in Winnipeg on Jan. 23 and 24.

Counting postseason games only, the Cougars have a 15-9 all-time record against the Wesmen and enjoy a 15-5 advantage over Winnipeg at home.

The series will begin with Game 1 on Thursday night at 7 p.m., with Game 2 scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. If needed, the third and deciding game will we played on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The winner of this weekend's series will move on to face Brandon in the division final, with the winner of that series moving on to the Canada West Final Four.

Live statistics and an audio broadcast of all games will be available at www.reginacougars.com.

Regina/Winnipeg Playoff History
1985 – GPAC semifinal game in Regina – Winnipeg 98, Regina 84
1986 – GPAC third-place game in Winnipeg – Winnipeg 96, Regina 81
1987 – GPAC semifinal game in Winnipeg – Winnipeg 110, Regina 100
1988 – GPAC semifinal game in Regina – Regina 92, Winnipeg 73
1989 – GPAC semifinal series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 1
1997 – GPAC semifinal series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 0
1998 – GPAC semifinal series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 1
2002 – Great Plains Division semifinal series in Winnipeg – Winnipeg 2, Regina 0
2005 – Great Plains Division semifinal series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 0
2006 – Great Plains Division final series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 1
2007 – Great Plains Division semifinal series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 1
2008 – Great Plains Division semifinal series in Regina – Regina 2, Winnipeg 0
2009 – Great Plains Division semifinal series in Regina – Feb. 12-14 at CKHS