Heading into Saturday's game, the University of Regina's men's basketball had never recorded a Canada West road win over UBC in 13 tries at the War Memorial Gym in a series that dates back to 1970. But that all changed, as the Cougars pulled away in the final minute for a crucial 83-79 win over the Thunderbirds. 

The Cougars went up by 12 points after an Alex Igual triple gave them a 76-64 lead with a shade over four minutes to go, but UBC went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to completely erase the deficit. Brandon Tull gave the Cougars the lead back after tipping in a rebound following his own miss, only to have UBC's Conor Morgan hit all free throws after being fouled while attempting a three-pointer.

But while Morgan's three freebies put UBC up 79-78, those would be the final points of the game for the Thunderbirds. The Cougars scored on the next possession on a tough scoop shot from the lane by Aaron McGowan to take an 80-79 lead, then got a defensive stop after forcing a contested deep two-point attempt by Morgan. Jonathan Tull (pictured) hit both free throws to put the Cougars up by three, and UBC had a chance to tie it with seconds left but Morgan's three-pointer from the left wing was no good.

The win improves Regina's record to 8-4 on the season as the Cougars continue to battle for a home series in the Canada West quarterfinals. They're in third place in the Pioneer Division standings, but have two games in hand on second-place UBC (10-4) and three games in hand on first-place Calgary (12-3).

Jonathan Tull finished with 23 points to lead the Cougars, while Alex Igual had 14 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double. Brandon Tull matched Igual with 14 points, while McGowan had another strong game off the bench for the U of R with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.

Morgan's 29 points led UBC.

The Cougars have their second consecutive difficult road weekend, as they'll head east to square off with Manitoba next Friday and Saturday. Coming off a road split with Lethbridge, the fourth-place Bisons (9-5) are just a couple of percentage points behind the Cougars in the Pioneer Division standings.