Box Score Box Score
Tarik Tokar's three-pointer with seconds remaining proved to be the difference on Saturday night, as the Brandon Bobcats took the Great Plains Division regular season title with a 69-68 victory over the Regina Cougars in Canada West men's basketball action in front of 1955 spectators at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
With less than ten seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and his Bobcats trailing by two, Tokar took an inbounds pass and immediately launched a shot from about six feet behind the three-point line. Tokar's shot found nothing but nylon, giving Brandon a 69-68 lead with 6.1 seconds left on the clock. The Cougars weren't able to get a shot off on the ensuing possession, giving the game to the Bobcats.
The win clinched the regular season division title for the Bobcats, and they will now enjoy a weekend off before hosting the winner of the Great Plains Division semifinal series. The Cougars will host the Winnipeg Wesmen in that best-of-three semifinal series, which will get underway on Feb. 12 at the CKHS.
Tokar was 4-for-7 from downtown and ended up with 14 points and a game-high six assists for the Bobcats. Dany Charlery had 19 points and eight rebounds for Brandon, while Eric Holm had 12 points and five rebounds.
Kris Heshka led the Cougars with 20 points and also pulled down nine rebounds, while
Jamal Williams had 16 points and 12 boards to register the game's lone double-double.
Paul Schubach and
Jeff Lukomski both had 12 points, with Lukomski adding a game-high six steals.
Saturday's game wrapped up an epic four-game season series between the two teams. Both of the games in Brandon in late November were decided by two points, and both of this weekend's games ended up with just a one-point margin separating them.
NOTES: Williams ended up with 197 rebounds on the season, which stands as the U of R's single-season record … Heshka finished close behind Williams with 194 total rebounds, the second highest total ever recorded by a Cougar in one season … Lukomski now holds the school's single-season record in both three-pointers made (75) and attempted (222).
