Box Score Box Score

The University of Regina's men's basketball team kept its chances of winning the Great Plains Division regular season title alive after defeating the Brandon Bobcats by a 65-64 score on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The game, which Brandon once led by as many as 14 points after tearing out of the gates, finished in a truly wild fashion. With the Bobcats trailing by three points, Stevens Marcelin hit a layup to cut the lead to just one with 28 seconds remaining. The Cougars took possession of the ball with the shot clock turned off, but instead of fouling, Brandon allowed Regina to move the ball around on offence. With just five seconds remaining on the clock, the Cougars turned the ball over, but Brandon couldn't maintain full possession and Regina held on for victory.

Brandon outscored a sluggish-looking Regina team by a 22-10 margin in the first quarter and took a 12-point lead into halftime. The Cougars were able to get back into the game in the third quarter – taking their first lead of the contest after a pair of Kris Heshka free throws capped a 13-1 run – and the two teams were never separated by more than five points in the fourth.

Regina's win sets up a winner-take-all game tomorrow, as the victor of tomorrow's game will earn the regular season division title and the right to host the best-of-three Great Plains Division final in two weeks' time.

“Plain and simple, we just played better 'D' in the second half,” Cougars head coach James Hillis said, as his team allowed 38 points in the first half and 26 in the second. “It's pretty tough to win two in a weekend if you don't win Friday, and tomorrow's game is going to be a lot of the same.”

Heshka, who helped energized the crowd with a pair of two-handed dunks midway through the fourth quarter, ended up leading the Cougars with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. Jamal Williams had to sit out a large portion of the fourth quarter after getting into foul trouble, but still ended up with 11 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Fourth-year guard Paul Schubach showed great composure throughout the contest and had 11 points, seven assists, and four rebounds.

For Brandon, Rejean Chabot had a game-high 20 points – all of which came in the first half. Dany Charlery, the conference's second-leading scorer behind Saskatchewan's Showron Glover, was well below his season average with 11 points. Tarik Tokar put up a double-double for the Bobcats, scoring 13 points and adding 11 rebounds.

These two teams have made a habit of getting into close contests this season, as the three games they've played against each other have been decided by a total of five points.

Saturday's game, which promises to be a classic, is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the CKHS. Tickets are available at the door, or catch all the action live on Cougar Radio through www.reginacougars.com.

NOTES: Manitoba's loss to Trinity Western on Friday night clinches the third and final Great Plains Division playoff berth for Winnipeg … Winnipeg will face the loser of Saturday night's Brandon/Regina game in the best-of-three division semifinal next weekend.