It got a bit testy at times, but the Alberta Golden Bears eventually prevailed with a 71-64 victory over the Regina Cougars for their second Canada West men's basketball win in as many nights at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
The two teams were never separated by more than eight points until the final seconds of the contest and though Alberta led for almost the entire game, the Golden Bears had to recover from a quick 9-1 run for the Cougars that gave the home side a brief lead early in the fourth. Alberta got three-pointers from Joel Friesen and Youssef Ouahrig in a span of just over a minute midway through the period to go up by eight, and the Cougars didn't get closer than five down the stretch.
 
Alberta improves to 9-6 on the season as the Golden Bears stay in fifth place in Canada West's Pioneer Division standings. This weekend's two losses were costly ones for the Cougars, who are now 7-9 and two games back of Winnipeg (8-6) and Manitoba (9-7) for the final two postseason berths in the division.
 
Friesen led Alberta with 20 points on the night, going 6-for-14 from the field with two triples and 6-for-8 from the line. Mamadou Gueye added 18 points and five steals while tying Kenneth Otieno for the team lead with five rebounds, and Ouahrig chipped in with 12 for the Golden Bears.
 
Will Tallman (16 points), Jonathan Tull (15), and Brandon Tull (14) were the leading scorers for the Cougars, with Jonathan Tull adding nine rebounds and five assists in the setback.
 
The game got a bit heated in the second half, reaching its boiling point early in the fourth quarter when backup posts Jeremy Zver and Sebastien Denault had a minor fracas after getting tied up following a missed free throw. Cooler heads quickly prevailed, with Zver and Denault both earning unsportsmanlike fouls.
 
The Cougars have their bye week upcoming, while Alberta will prepare for two home games against a Brandon team that will enter the weekend on an eight-game losing streak.