Box Score

The University of Regina's men's basketball team hung with the second-ranked team in the country all game, but ultimately couldn't recover from a slow start and lost 75-65 to UBC on Saturday night in Vancouver.

It looked as though the game might get out of hand early as UBC scored 11 straight points in the second half of the first quarter to open up a double-digit lead and again in the second quarter when the Thunderbirds led by as much as 17, but the Cougars rallied after halftime to get back in it.

UBC's Brylle Kamen started the third quarter with a layup to put the home side up 45-29, but that sparked a Cougar run that saw the U of R score 12 consecutive points to get to within four and force a UBC timeout. UBC then reeled off an 11-0 run of its own to get the lead back up to 15, but Antonio Tate's three-pointer at the end of the third brought the deficit back down to nine points heading into the final 10 minutes.

The Cougars got to within seven points on three occasions in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, but weren't able to draw any closer as UBC – which only has two losses in Canada West play – staved off the visitors down the stretch.

Doug Plumb led UBC (12-2) with 15 points, while Kamen scored 11 and added 10 rebounds to record the game's only double-double. O'Brian Wallace and Tommy Nixon also broke into double figures in scoring for UBC as both players ended up with 10 points.

The U of R's Paul Gareau was 8-for-11 from the field and led all players with 18 points, while Tate and Frank Brown both scored 14. Most of Tate's damage was done from three-point range, where he was 4-for-5 on the night. Brendan Hebert collected a game-high eight assists for the Cougars, who drop to 5-9 with the loss.

The Cougars will host Prairie Division-leading Alberta (12-2) next weekend at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. on both nights.