The University of Regina's men's basketball team suffered a 77-63 road loss to Manitoba on Saturday night, their second setback in as many nights to the Bisons as the Cougars' Canada West record falls to 8-6 on the season.
 
Manitoba's balanced attack saw all five starters get into double figures in points, led by Justus Alleyn's 13. Jonathan Alexander, A.J. Basi, Brett Jewell, and Keith Omoerah all had 12 points, with Omoerah adding a game-high 18 rebounds.
 
Jonathan Tull led the Cougars with 12 points.
 
Manitoba never trailed on Saturday, leading by three after the opening period and outscoring the Cougars 23-11 in the second quarter to take a 44-29 lead into halftime.
 
The Cougars hoped to replicate their second-half effort in Friday's loss which saw them come back from a significant deficit to make it a one-possession game down the stretch, but that never happened on Saturday. The Cougars did cobble together a 10-0 run sparked by Alex Igual midway through the fourth, but that only brought them to within 17 points of the hometown Bisons.
 
Regina eventually worked the lead down to 10, but by that time there was just over a minute left and Manitoba was able to coast to its 11th Canada West victory of the season.
 
Aaron McGowan added 11 points and five assists for the Cougars, while Travis Sylvestre had 10 points and six rebounds as both players played significant roles off the bench for the U of R.
 
The Cougars are now alone in sixth place in the Pioneer Division standings, one game back of both Lethbridge and Winnipeg who are tied for fourth with 9-5 records. The U of R is currently a game and a half up on seventh-place Alberta (7-8) and two games up on eighth-place Victoria (7-9) as the teams jockey for postseason position.
 
And with the top seven teams from the division to qualify for the playoffs, next weekend's home games against Victoria are critical for both sides. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.