It was a close game throughout, but the University of Regina's men's basketball team saw its offence dry up in the late stages of the game and fell 76-72 to Saskatchewan on Friday night in Saskatoon.
 
The two teams were separated by single digits until with under three minutes left as Saskatchewan went on a 14-4 run over a six-minute span to go up by 10. The Huskies then got buckets by Matthew Forbes and Dadrian Collins to twice restore the 10-point lead in the final two minutes, leaving too much to overcome for the Cougars.
 
The Cougars led for most of the first quarter, but a 15-4 run for Saskatchewan in the second gave the Huskies a six-point advantage. But the Cougars closed out the half on an 8-2 run of their own as the two teams went into the break tied at 32-32. The U of R came out strong in the third quarter with a 10-2 run capped by a Will Tallman basket that gave the Cougars an eight-point lead, which would be their largest lead of the game.
 
But that led to a game-changing two minutes of play which saw Saskatchewan explode for 14 consecutive points, giving the Huskies a lead they'd hold on to for the rest of the game.
 
Matthew Forbes led Saskatchewan (7-4) with 24 points, while Ben Baker had 13 and Collins scored 12 while pulling down a team-leading nine rebounds.
 
Three players hit double figures in points for the Cougars, including Brandon Tull with 18 points and seven rebounds to lead his team in both categories. Jonathan Tull scored 14 points, while Travis Sylvestre added 13. Now 7-6 on the season, the Cougars are just a half-game up on Alberta for the final Pioneer Division playoff spot and will play Saskatchewan again on Saturday night in Saskatoon (8:00, canadawest.tv).