The University of Regina's men's basketball team held off the UBC Okanagan Heat for an 83-79 road victory on Friday night in a Canada West game in Kelowna, B.C.

The Cougars trailed 66-62 just short of the midway mark of the fourth quarter, but Alex Igual drilled a three-pointer and hit a layup on back-to-back possessions and Regina led the rest of the way. The Cougars went on a late 7-0 run highlighted by an and-one by Johneil Johnson to go up 79-71 and though the Heat briefly brought the lead down to three with under a minute to go, another layup by Johnson and a steal by Igual sealed the win.

"UBC Okanagan is a well-coached team and tonight we were fortunate to get on the right side of a close game," Cougars head coach Steve Burrows said. "We're fully expecting another tight battle tomorrow night."

Igual finished with a team-leading 24 points for the Cougars and also tied for the game high with five assists. Four other Cougars scored in double figures, including Brandon Tull with 14 points, Brian Ofori with 13, Carter Millar with 11, and Johnson with 10. Millar (pictured) also led all players with 10 rebounds to secure his first Canada West double-double.

The win improves Regina's Canada West record to 6-3 as the Cougars remain tied with Saskatchewan for fourth place in the conference standings, a few percentage points ahead of Lethbridge and Winnipeg at 7-4.

Aldrich Berrios scored 29 points for UBC Okanagan in a losing cause, while Mitch Goodwin piled up 25.

The two teams will finish off their weekend series on Saturday night (7:00 PT).