Box Score
The University of Regina's men's basketball team saw a late 16-point lead evaporate to just four with under a minute left, but the Cougars were able to hold on to a 72-64 win over UBC Okanagan on Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
It looked as if the Cougars had things well in hand when
Travis Sylvestre's three-point play gave the home side a 64-48 lead with under four minutes left, but the Heat went on an 11-0 run to narrow the gap to just four.
Brandon Tull stopped the run with a layup to get the lead back up to six, and after a stop by the Cougars
Brendan Hebert hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to seal the win.
Tull led all players with a career-high 24 points, while Hebert ended up with 10 points and nine assists as the fourth-year guard fell just short of a double-double.
Will Tallman did register a double-double – his first as a Cougar – with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while
Kade Marra added 10 points in just 11 minutes off the bench.
Most of UBC Okanagan's offence came from Yassine Ghomari and James Lum, who scored 19 and 18 points, respectively.
The first half featured some big runs by both teams. The Cougars scored 14 of the game's first 18 points to build up a double-digit lead by the five-minute mark of the opening quarter, but a huge 18-0 run by UBC Okanagan gave the Heat an eight-point advantage early in the second. The Heat's lead reached nine at several points in the second, but the Cougars closed the half with 12 consecutive points capped by a Tull triple at the buzzer to give the U of R a 33-30 advantage in the half.
The streaky play continued in the third, as a 14-0 run gave the Cougars a 14-point lead late in the quarter. UBC Okanagan cut the lead down to seven early in the fourth, but were held scoreless for a three-minute span in the final period while Regina built the lead up to 16.
The loss drops the Heat's record to 2-9 on the season as they'll now prepare for a road game at Brandon on Saturday night. The Cougars (3-9) will be back at the CKHS next weekend with home games against Winnipeg on Friday and Saturday.
