Box Score Box Score

With four fifth-year players playing their final home games of their careers, the University of Regina's men's basketball team came up with a 93-82 win over Manitoba on Saturday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The teams were close through three quarters, and a pair of Eric Garcia free throws brought Manitoba to within five points early in the fourth. Cue the theatrics from downtown, as the Cougars hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers – two from Jeff Lukomski and the third by Brendan Hebert – to push the lead up to 14.

The Cougars maintained a double-digit lead down the stretch, and a vintage Marek Downarowicz three-pointer from the corner essentially sealed the victory with just under three minutes left in the game.

Regina's fifth-year players were led by Lukomski, who went 5-for-9 from three-point land and ended up with a team-high 24 points for the Cougars. Downarowicz ended up with 13 points and 14 rebounds to secure his second double-double in as many nights and his fourth of the season, while Kris Heshka ended up with nine rebounds, five steals, and four points in his final home game as a Cougar. Lynn Gee made his third career start and ended up with three points, all of which came on a second-quarter three-pointer.

Third-year forward Paul Gareau scored 21 and pulled down nine rebounds for the U of R.

Garcia tied Lukomski for the game high with 24 points, while Richard Reimer scored 17 and added 12 rebounds for a big double-double. Kevin Oliver had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Bisons.

The Bisons end the Canada West schedule with a 9-15 record. Despite the loss, Manitoba clinches a spot in the postseason thanks to Saskatchewan's win over Calgary. With Fraser Valley's win over Brandon on Saturday night, the Bisons finish in eighth place in the Canada West standings and will meet No. 2-ranked UBC in the Canada West quarterfinals next weekend.

The Cougars (14-10) have known since last weekend that they'll be heading to Saskatoon next weekend for the Canada West quarterfinals. The best-of-three series against the University of Saskatchewan gets underway on Friday night.

NOTES: Lukomski finishes his career ranked No. 19 on Canada West's all-time list with 1504 points … Lukomski ends with 308 three-pointers in his career, a total which ranks first in conference history and 69 ahead of second-place Casey Archibald (UBC, 2002-07) … Heshka finishes as one of just 10 players in U of R history to score at least 1100 career points … Heshka is also ranked third in the school record book with 656 career rebounds … Gareau ends the year ranked second in the U of R's single-season record book in points (448), free throws made (128), and free throws attempted (167).