Two wins back of the final Pioneer Division postseason berth with four games to go in conference play, the University of Regina's men's basketball team will be looking to make a late push starting this weekend against UBC at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
The Cougars (7-9) actually have two games in hand over seventh-place Manitoba (9-9) – which currently occupies the seventh and final postseason spot in the Pioneer – but Manitoba's win over Alberta could give the Bisons the upper hand in a tiebreak situation. The Bisons finish off their Canada West schedule on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14 at UBC (10-6), while the Cougars will travel east next weekend for a pair of games against a Winnipeg team which is also 10-6.
 
In his first year with the Cougars after stints at both Central Connecticut State and Acadia, fourth-year guard Jonathan Tull has been a revelation for the U of R. He's one of only three players in the conference to average in excess of 20 points per game and also leads the Cougars with 46 assists and 11 blocks while ranking second on the team in both rebounds (90) and steals (25).
 
Brandon Tull averages 14.6 points per game for the Cougars and also has a team-leading 36 steals, while Travis Sylvestre (12.8 points per game) and Will Tallman (10.7) also average in double digits for the Cougars and Tallman is also the team's leading rebounder with an average of 6.3 per contest. Matthew Augustine has stepped into the starting lineup nicely for the Cougars since the injury to Alex Igual, and the tenacious defender has chipped in with 27 assists and 19 steals for the U of R this season.
 
Mike Malecha, Jeremy Zver, and Ryan Delwo each average in excess of 10 minutes off the bench for the Cougars, while rookie post Zach Mihalicz has also seen action in 15 of the team's 16 Canada West games.
 
Only two Canada West players have scored more than Jonathan Tull this season, and UBC's Tommy Nixon is one of them. Nixon is averaging a conference-leading 21.8 points per game and is shooting 62% from the field overall, including 53% from three-point range. Nixon has been heating up of late, as he scored 32 in last Saturday's win over Calgary and dropped a season-high 45 points two weekends ago in a win at Trinity Western.
 
Besides Nixon, UBC's lineup lately has also featured Conor Morgan, Tonner Jackson, Jordan Jensen-Whyte, and David Wagner in the starting lineup with Kedar Wright used heavily off the bench.
 
Both games are scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. at the CKHS (canadawest.tv).